UN chief denounces ‘cruelest phase’ in Gaza
Published: 06:05 PM,May 23,2025 | EDITED : 10:05 PM,May 23,2025
Palestinians stand over a donkey killed during an Israeli drone strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. - AFP
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Friday said 'Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict' as Israel ramps up its military offensive.
'For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid,' he said in a statement. 'The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine.
'The Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction.
'Today, 80 per cent of Gaza has been either designated an Israeli-militarised zone or an area where people have been ordered to leave.'
Israel resumed major operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.
Aid also began trickling into the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time in more than two months, amidst condemnation of the Israeli blockade that sparked severe shortages of food and medicine.
'Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law,' Guterres said. 'As the occupying power, it must agree to allow and facilitate the aid that is needed.'
The foreign ministers of more than 20 countries, including Germany, France and Britain, have urged Israel to fully reopen humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
'Whilst we acknowledge indications of a limited restart of aid, Israel blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza for over two months. Food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted. The population faces starvation. Gaza's people must receive the aid they desperately need,' the joint statement, said.
Meanwhile, justice watchdog TRIAL International said on Friday that Swiss authorities should investigate the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip,
Describing the GHF as a private security company, it said aid distribution should be left to UN organisations and humanitarian agencies.
'The dire humanitarian situation in Gaza requires an immediate response,' TRIAL International's executive director, Philip Grant, said in a statement.
'However, the planned use of private security companies leads to a risky militarisation of aid,' he added.
That, he argued, 'is not justified in a context where the United Nations and humanitarian NGOs have the impartiality, resources and expertise necessary to distribute this aid without delay to the civilian population'.
TRIAL International said it had filed legal submissions calling on Switzerland, where GHF is registered, to check that the group was complying with its own statutes and the Swiss legal system.
The GHF has said it will distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, which some have accused of working with Israel.
On Friday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 3,673 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,822, mostly civilians. — Agencies
'For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid,' he said in a statement. 'The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine.
'The Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction.
'Today, 80 per cent of Gaza has been either designated an Israeli-militarised zone or an area where people have been ordered to leave.'
Israel resumed major operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.
Aid also began trickling into the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time in more than two months, amidst condemnation of the Israeli blockade that sparked severe shortages of food and medicine.
'Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law,' Guterres said. 'As the occupying power, it must agree to allow and facilitate the aid that is needed.'
The foreign ministers of more than 20 countries, including Germany, France and Britain, have urged Israel to fully reopen humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
'Whilst we acknowledge indications of a limited restart of aid, Israel blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza for over two months. Food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted. The population faces starvation. Gaza's people must receive the aid they desperately need,' the joint statement, said.
Meanwhile, justice watchdog TRIAL International said on Friday that Swiss authorities should investigate the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip,
Describing the GHF as a private security company, it said aid distribution should be left to UN organisations and humanitarian agencies.
'The dire humanitarian situation in Gaza requires an immediate response,' TRIAL International's executive director, Philip Grant, said in a statement.
'However, the planned use of private security companies leads to a risky militarisation of aid,' he added.
That, he argued, 'is not justified in a context where the United Nations and humanitarian NGOs have the impartiality, resources and expertise necessary to distribute this aid without delay to the civilian population'.
TRIAL International said it had filed legal submissions calling on Switzerland, where GHF is registered, to check that the group was complying with its own statutes and the Swiss legal system.
The GHF has said it will distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, which some have accused of working with Israel.
On Friday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 3,673 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,822, mostly civilians. — Agencies