The heads of the United Nations’ main agencies released a rare joint statement on Sunday expressing outrage at the civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip and calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the war. Israel and Hamas.

“For almost a month now, the world has watched the unfolding situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories with shock and horror as the number of lives lost and destroyed grows exponentially,” the text reads.

The leaders of 18 agencies, including UNICEF, the World Food Program and the World Health Organization, marked the ever-heavier death toll of the Israel/Hamas war, which was triggered by the Palestinian Islamist movement’s attack on Israeli soil on October 7.

In the small coastal Palestinian enclave, 9,770 people have been killed, nearly half of whom were children, according to the Hamas government, as the Israeli military has relentlessly bombarded the enclave since the conflict broke out. While over 1,400 people were killed in Israel, mostly civilians, in the Hamas attack, according to Israeli authorities.

In the Gaza Strip, “an entire population is under siege and attack, denial of access to the absolute necessities of life, he is bombarded inside his house, in shelters, in hospitals, in places of worship. This is unacceptable,” the statement said.

UN agency chiefs are calling on Hamas to release the 240 and hostages abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip on October 7 and each party to comply with its obligations under international law.

Greater quantities of food, water, medicine and fuel must be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip and reach the population, especially its most vulnerable members, they add.

“We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough. This must stop now,” the text concludes.