NEW YORK: UN chief Antonio Guterres is likely to visit Egypt’s border with Gaza on Saturday, following Israel said it would attack the nearby city of Rafah.
During his visit, the UN Secretary General plans to reiterate his call for a humanitarian truce, though renewed global pressure has so far failed to deter Israel from the planned ground attack in Rafah, where most of Gazans has taken refuge.
Such an offensive would cause mass civilian casualties and also worsen the humanitarian crisis gripping the region, world leaders and legal experts said.
Global efforts to pause the almost six months of fighting have grown increasingly distressed, with the Gaza health ministry said that more than 32,070 people have been killed in Gaza while experts warned that the entire population is teetering on the brink of scarcity.
The ministry said that Saturday morning more than 67 people killed overnight, including ten in a strike on a family home north of Gaza City.
Earlier, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini termed it a man-made disaster. He said that a truce and “flooding Gaza with food + lifesaving goods” was the only solution of the catastrophe.
On the other hand, the latest bid for a UNSC resolution on an “immediate” truce failed on Friday as Russia and China vetoed the US proposal, which regional countries complained was too weak.
AFP citied diplomatic sources as saying that a vote on a new truce text, initially planned for Saturday, would be deferred until Monday to allow for more discussions.
