(Cairo) The UN on Monday described the situation in Gaza as “appalling and apocalyptic”, warning that exposing Palestinians to the conditions they face in the territory could amount to “the most serious international crimes”.
Posted at 6:57 a.m.
Opening a conference in Cairo aimed at accelerating humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged in his speech, read by his deputy Amina Mohammed, the international community to “lay the foundations lasting peace in Gaza and throughout the Middle East.
According to the Health Ministry of the Hamas government in Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed in nearly 14 months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group, figures considered reliable by the UN.
Mr. Guterres highlighted the devastating toll of the conflict and the urgent need for international action. “Malnutrition is endemic… Famine is imminent. Meanwhile, the health system has collapsed,” he noted.
He added that Gaza now has “the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world, with many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anesthesia.”
PHOTO EYAD BABA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinians walk past a bakery closed due to shortages, in Nousseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, December 2, 2024.
The UN chief also criticized severe restrictions on aid delivery, calling current levels “grossly insufficient”.
According to a count by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), only 65 aid trucks per day were able to enter the besieged Palestinian territory last month, compared to a pre-war average of 500.
“Crisis of political will”
International aid organizations have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza, warning that the population, some 2.4 million, is on the brink of famine.
According to them, aid deliveries reaching the territory are now at their lowest since the deadly attack launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, which sparked the current war.
Israel, which has imposed a total siege on territory controlled by Hamas, for its part blames the inability of humanitarian organizations to manage and distribute large quantities of aid.
The blockage of aid to Gaza “is not a logistical crisis”, but rather “a crisis of political will and respect for the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law”, Mr. Guterres retorted on Monday.
UNRWA said all of its attempts to deliver aid to northern Gaza were “denied” or “impeded” between October 6, 2024 and November 25, amid heavy fighting.
Mr. Guterres called UNRWA an “irreplaceable lifeline for millions of Palestinians,” warning that if it were “forced to close, the responsibility for replacing its essential services – and meeting the basic needs of Palestinians in Gaza – will fall on to Israel as the occupying power.
“Not at the United Nations. […] But to Israel, and to Israel alone,” he insisted, while in October the country decided to prohibit UNRWA from operating on its soil.
“In a context of persistent poverty, UNRWA remains the backbone of the humanitarian response” in Gaza, noted its head, Philippe Lazzarini.
He called for protecting humanitarian law with “a robust international legal and policy framework.” “Without this, humanitarians, however altruistic and courageous they may be, cannot stay and act,” he warned.
