UN rights office urges parties to do everything to prevent Gaza cease-fire deal from being derailed

The UN human rights office on Friday urged parties to do everything possible to prevent the cease-fire agreement in Gaza from being derailed amid "heavy bombardment" and killing of Palestinians.

"We're following the situation closely," spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in response to Anadolu's question about reported Israeli killings since the cease-fire deal was announced late Wednesday evening and goes into effect on Sunday.

"In the run-up to the cease-fire, we are seeing heavy bombardment, including last night, and we understand that the Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported that 81 Palestinians have been killed just on the 15th and the 16th of January," Shamdasani said.

"We are calling on all parties to the conflict to do everything they can to prevent the cease-fire deal from being derailed, to do everything they can to implement in good faith the cease-fire agreement, which has been so hard-won, and to move towards finalizing these two and phase three of this agreement as soon as possible," she urged.