UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Antonio Guterres called on Sunday for Israel to end its suspension of humanitarian aid supply to the besieged Gaza Strip “immediately.”
“The Secretary-General urges all parties to make every effort to prevent a return to hostilities in Gaza. He calls for humanitarian aid to flow back into Gaza immediately and for the release of all hostages,” said a statement from the UN posted on X.
Israel suspended the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip on Sunday after the fragile ceasefire ended.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said four people were killed and six others wounded in Israeli attacks Sunday after the first phase of a fragile truce in the territory ended.
“Since this morning, four dead and six wounded” have been brought to “hospitals in the Gaza Strip following Israeli attacks in various parts of the territory,” the ministry said in a statement.
It earlier said Israeli tanks targeted the border areas of Abasan Al-Kabira town, east of Khan Younis city, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian agency’s head condemned on Sunday Israel’s suspension of vital aid into Gaza, which he said was contrary to international law.
“Israel’s decision to halt aid into Gaza is alarming. International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid,” OCHA head Thomas Fletcher wrote on X.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Sunday called for the total compliance of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
“There is no alternative to the faithful and full implementation by all parties of what was signed last January,” Abdelatty said at a news conference in Cairo.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister also urged the European Union to exert “maximum pressure on the parties, especially the Israeli party, regarding commitment to the ceasefire agreement”.
First phase of Gaza ceasefire ends
As the 42-day first phase of the ceasefire ended, Israel backed an extension proposed by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would cover the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover.
However, Hamas has rejected extending the first phase and insisted on moving directly to the second stage.
This would involve the release of all remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the Israeli bombardment in Gaza.
“We must now move forward with negotiations on the second phase, which will naturally be challenging,” Abdelatty said.
He added that progress remained possible “if goodwill and political will are present”.
Egypt is set to host a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Monday, ahead of a Tuesday summit where Arab leaders are due to discuss a reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Abdelatty said the plan had been finalised and was “awaiting presentation to Arab partners at the ministerial meeting and the summit for approval”.
Egypt has also been rallying Arab support against a plan by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Hamas slams Israel
In a statement, Hamas slammed Israel’s blockade of critical aid and said that the “decision to suspend humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the (ceasefire) agreement”.
Following the announcement of the aid suspension, Netanyahu spokesman Omer Dostri wrote on X: “No trucks entered Gaza this morning, nor will they at this stage.”
Israeli officials engaged in ceasefire negotiations with Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators in Cairo last week. But by early Saturday there was no sign of consensus.
Hamas called on “mediators and the international community to pressure” Israel to “put an end to these punitive, immoral measures against more than two million people in the Gaza Strip”.
Its spokesman Hazem Qassem later said Israel “bears responsibility for the consequences of its decision on the people of the Strip and the fate of its prisoners”.
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said Sunday that proceeding to the second phase was “the only way to achieve stability in the region and the return” of the hostages.
Under the first phase, Hamas returned 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight others, in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.
Of the 251 captives taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.
Looming famine in Gaza
More than 15 months of Israeli war created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the UN repeatedly warning the territory was on the brink of famine before the ceasefire allowed a surge of aid to enter.
But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday dismissed warnings of famine in Gaza as a “lie”.
“With regards to this starvation [claim], that was a lie during all this war. That was a lie,” Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
The suspension of aid comes as Palestinians in Gaza, alongside much of the Muslim world, mark the second day of the holy month of Ramadan, during which the faithful observe a dawn-to-dusk fast.
Israeli bombardment campaign has ravaged the vast majority of Gaza and killed more than 48,388 Palestinian people there, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry, figures the UN has deemed reliable.
Washington announced late Saturday it was boosting its military aid to Israel.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was using “emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance”.
