Its Secretary General called on Hamas yesterday to release all the hostages it is holding United Nations OrganizationAntonio Guterres, but also Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, warning that the Middle East is “on the brink”.
The Gaza Strip is facing a “lack of water, electricity and absolutely necessary supplies,” Mr. Guterres said, according to a press release released by his services.
UN stockpiles of food, water, medicine and other medical supplies and fuel, located in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, “can be sent within hours” to the enclave, he continued, calling on the international agency’s staff to be allowed “to transport these supplies into Gaza safely and unhindered” to the people who need them.
At the same time, he called on Hamas to “immediately” and “unconditionally” release the hostages.
“Each of these two goals is valid on its own. There should be no negotiation papers,” added Mr. Guterres, stressing that he considered it “his duty” to address the two appeals “at this dramatic moment, as we stand on the brink of the abyss in the Middle East.”
Over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, including children, were killed in Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7, according to the latest official count, while another 150 are held hostage, according to international agencies and the Athens News Agency.
In the Gaza Strip, where Hamas rules, authorities count at least 2,670 dead, including more than 700 children, and 9,600 injured in Israeli air and artillery strikes in a week or so.
Faced with unrelenting Israeli retaliatory shelling of the Gaza Strip and after the Israeli army was ordered to evacuate the northern part of the small Palestinian enclave – measuring 362 square kilometers – ahead of the launch of a large-scale ground operation, more than 1 million people have been displaced from its total of 2.4 million inhabitants, according to the UN.
Source: News Beast
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