Gaza on verge of collapse: UN

The United Nations Middle East envoy has stressed that "Gaza is on the verge of collapse." 

Nikolay Mladenov gave the warning while addressing the UN Security Council on Wednesday, where he called for urgent action to relieve the suffering of Gaza's "increasingly desperate" people.

He added that people of Gaza were living with "crippling Israeli closures and with diminishing hopes for an end to the occupation and a political solution."

"Gaza's infrastructure teeters on the verge of total collapse, particularly its electricity and water networks as well as its health system," he noted.

Mladenov further called on the international community to join "in condemning in the strongest possible terms the actions that have led to the loss of so many lives in Gaza" since March.   

Israeli forces killed at least 62 Palestinians during protests near the Gaza fence on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided with Washington's embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

More than 2,700 Palestinians were also wounded as the Israeli forces used snipers, airstrikes, tank fire and tear gas to target the demonstrators.

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations Gholamali Khoshroo says that Israel's Monday massacre of innocent Palestinians is a "day of shame" for the Muslim world.

The UN envoy also denounced Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

Most of the UN Security Council member states raise alarm over the non-implementation of an anti-Israel resolution adopted in December 2016.

He also stressed that dozens of Palestinian homes and structures have been destroyed recently as illegal construction goes on.

Israel has been building settler units across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (al-Quds), since 1967, when it occupied the territory during an all-out war.

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements that are illegal under the international law, which prohibits construction on occupied land.