Dhaka: The heads of the UN and Red Cross have issued a rare joint rebuke to world leaders, accusing them of ‘disturbing paralysis’ in the face of conflict.

‘From Afghanistan to the Central African Republic, from Ukraine to Yemen, combatants and those who control them are defying humanity’s most basic rules. Every day, civilians — ordinary women, men and children — are being deliberately or recklessly injured and killed, tortured and abducted. Every hour, people in dire circumstances are being denied the medical care, food, water and shelter they need to survive,’ said  Ban at a joint press encounter with Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva.

The UN chief said that airstrikes are increasing in besieged populated areas and cited the killing of dozens of people yesterday, when Syrian government forces fired missiles into a marketplace in Douma and the continual indiscriminate firing of rockets in Damascus.

‘Such deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian areas is a clear breach of international law. The continuing violence is a clear indication that a political solution to the conflict in Syria is desperately needed — the fighting must stop now. There is no military solution to the crisis — not in Syria or anywhere else,’ said Ban.

Additionally, he deplored the attacks on healthcare facilities and reiterated that they hold a special protected status under international humanitarian law.

 Ban said that the attack on a Yemeni hospital in Saada last week is the 39th health centre attack since March and added that more children may die in Yemen from a lack of healthcare and medicines than from bullets and bombs.

He also condemned the bombing of the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital earlier this month in Kunduz, Afghanistan and said that the supposed surgical strike ‘instead destroyed a surgical ward’.

‘These violations have become so routine there is a risk people will think that the deliberate bombing of civilians, the targeting of humanitarian and healthcare workers, and attacks on schools, hospitals and places of worship are an inevitable result of conflict,’ said Ban.

He sounded alarm over the constant flouting of international humanitarian law across the world and added that the international community should bring the attackers to account.

‘Enough is enough. Even war has rules; it is time to enforce them,’ said Ban. ‘The continued failure to act is a disgrace and a stain on the conscience of the world,’ he added.

He stressed that protecting civilians in wartime is the cornerstone in the international system and the UN and added that indifference on such issues will only make the world less secure.

‘Today, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross are calling for an end to impunity, an end to the callous disregard for human life, and a recommitment to international humanitarian law,’ said  Ban urging collaborative action from the international community.

He further called for all influential parties to ‘pressure all parties in conflict to treat civilians with humanity and to abide by the law’ and initiate political and diplomatic measures by bringing referrals to national and special investigative tribunals or courts.

 Ban also urged on ending the use of heavy explosive weapons in densely populated urban areas, causing deaths of civilians.

He also called for allowing humanitarian access in conflict-prone regions to help people who need aid and asked the international community to give additional support to displaced population and refugees.

He added that the UN and ICRC are taking immediate steps to address these issues and added that the one of the main themes of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul next May will be protecting civilians in conflicts.