United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for an ”immediate ceasefire” for the war between Israel and Hamas, adding that “the eyes of the world and the eyes of history are watching”. “It is time to act”, he said, speaking at the UN Security Council meeting to vote on a resolution on the ceasefire fire. ”The brutality demonstrated by Hamas must not be used as a justification for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas against Israel and the use of civilians as human shields do not absolve Israel of its own violations”, added Guterres, underlining the fact that Israel must ”respond within the limits of the law international”.
“The people of Gaza are staring into the abyss. The international community must do everything possible to put an end to this harsh reality,” Guterres continued. Addressing the UN Security Council he then asked to ”spare no effort to obtain an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the protection of civilians and for the urgent delivery of life-saving aid”.
”Food supplies are running out in Gaza” and ”Palestinians are being asked to move like pinballs, bouncing toward ever-shrinking areas of the south without any basis for survival,” he said, underlining that ”nowhere in Gaza is safe.” Furthermore, he added, the population of Gaza would need ”40 trucks a day with food supplies per day, many more than those entering the Palestinian enclave today.
There is a ”serious risk that threats to the maintenance of international peace and security will worsen” as a consequence of the war between Israel and Hamas. ”We have already seen repercussions in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. There is clearly, in my opinion, a serious risk that the existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security will worsen”.
”The risk of collapse of the humanitarian system is fundamentally linked to the total lack of security for our personnel in Gaza” as well as ”the nature and intensity of military operations which are severely limiting access to people who are desperately in need need assistance.
”The threat to the safety and security of United Nations personnel in Gaza is unprecedented – underlined Guterres – More than 130 of my colleagues have already been killed, many together with their families. This is the largest loss of life in the history of our organization.” At the same time, the secretary general wanted to reiterate that ”the UN is totally committed to helping the people of Gaza, I will never tire of repeating it”.
Guterres then wanted to pay ”homage to the heroic humanitarian workers who continue to commit to their work despite the enormous dangers to their health and lives. But the situation is simply becoming unsustainable”.
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