File Photo: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. AFP
“Gaza is piled with rubble, piled with bodies, and piled with examples of what may be serious violations of international law,” Guterres said.
“And let’s be clear: the levels of death and destruction in Gaza are without parallel in recent times. Famine is no longer a looming possibility -- it is a present-day catastrophe. People are dying from hunger. Families are being torn apart by displacement and despair.”
“Pregnant women are facing unimaginable risks. And the systems that sustain life -- food, water, healthcare -- have been systematically dismantled.”
“These are the facts on the ground. And they are the result of deliberate decisions that defy basic humanity.”
He called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the release of all Israeli captives.
The UN chief's call for a ceasefire comes amid Israeli refusal to answer the recent Egyptian-Qatari truce proposal that was accepted by Hamas and previously agreed upon by Tel Aviv.
It also comes amid growing regional and international condemnation of the blockade and the ongoing Israeli military operation to ethnically cleanse more than one million people from Gaza City to the south of the strip..
Last week, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) announced that parts of Gaza are now experiencing famine.
The IPC in its official declaration noted that the famine was likely to spread among 2.4 million people across Gaza without a ceasefire and lifting of Israel's five-month blockade on the strip.
More than 300 Palestinians, including tens of children, have lost their lives to starvation or malnutrition due to the blockade, according to various figures, as
On Thursday, the head of the UN's World Food Programme warned that famine-hit Gaza is "at breaking point," appealing for the urgent revival of its network of 200 food distribution points.
"Enough is enough ... Gaza is at a breaking point. Desperation is soaring -- and I saw it firsthand," the WFP's executive director, Cindy McCain, said in a statement.
On Thursday, the Israeli army killed at least 50 Palestinians, including 19 people waiting for humanitarian aid, since dawn, according to hospital sources.
Gaza’s health ministry says at least 62,000 Palestinians were killed and nearly 160,000 were wounded since the start of Israel’s war on the strip in October 2023.
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