BEIJING: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urgently called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza to alleviate the “enormous human suffering” in the region.
Speaking in Beijing, Antonio Guterres emphasized that a ceasefire would provide a critical window to address two fundamental appeals he had previously made: the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and the immediate entry of aid into the sealed-off enclave grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis.
“The region is teetering on the brink,” he cautioned.
This call came on the heels of a tragic strike by the Israeli forces at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, resulting more than 600 casualties. Guterres strongly condemned this incident, reaffirming that hospitals and medical personnel enjoy protection under international law.
A day earlier, the US President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and announced Israel’s willingness to allow limited aid into the Gaza Strip via the Egyptian border, which was subsequently confirmed by Netanyahu’s office, according to media reports.
World Reacts to Escalating Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
In response to this development, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to social media to welcome the leadership of the United States and Israel, as well as their decision to permit essential aid into Gaza. He stressed that many lives depended on this decision.
During an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers, the head of the UN Palestine refugee agency, Philippe Lazzarini, stated that “an unprecedented catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes.”
He added, “Gaza is being strangled, and it appears that the world has lost its sense of humanity. Every hour, we receive increasingly desperate calls for help from people throughout the Gaza Strip, with thousands of civilians, including women and children, losing their lives over the past 12 days.”
Trucks carrying life-saving aid remain queued up at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. In an online post on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros deplored that WHO supplies had been “stuck” at the border for four days, stating, “Every moment we delay in delivering medical aid costs lives.”
Unwavering diplomatic efforts led by senior UN officials to secure humanitarian access were set to continue. The UN’s relief chief, Martin Griffiths, is on the ground in Cairo, and he will be joined by Secretary-General Guterres on Thursday.
Griffiths stressed in a Wednesday post that providing aid to the people of Gaza is a matter of life or death, emphasizing that delivering aid in a consistent, unobstructed, and predictable manner is a humanitarian necessity.
Critical supplies such as food, water, essential medicines, and health equipment are rapidly depleting in Gaza, where over a quarter of the population has been displaced since the conflict’s outset.
WHO reported on Tuesday that out of 35 hospitals in Gaza, four are no longer operational due to severe damage and targeting. Only eight out of the 22 primary healthcare centers administered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are partially functional.
Guterres underscored the dire need for assistance to address the most basic requirements of the people of Gaza, the majority of whom are women and children.
