Guterres: Gaza has turned into "a graveyard for children"

2023-11-07 07:30:21, Kosova & Bota CNA

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called urgently for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, saying it was turning into a "graveyard" for hundreds of Palestinian children a day, after a Security Council meeting failed to produce any result.

"The way forward is clear," he told reporters at the United Nations. "A humanitarian ceasefire. Now."

He said all parties must also respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and that no party to an armed conflict is above the law.

"This means the unconditional release of the hostages in Gaza - now," he said, referring to the 240 people Hamas kidnapped during the Oct. 7 terror attack inside Israel. "I will never stop trying for their immediate release," he added.

Mr. Guterres said that respecting international humanitarian law also means protecting civilians - including that they are not used as human shields - hospitals, UN facilities, humanitarian shelters and schools in Gaza, as well as increasing the amount of aid and fuel to the surrounded territory.

"None of these appeals should be conditioned by the other," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no humanitarian pause without the return of all hostages, although on Monday evening he told an interview on US ABC television that he could consider "short tactical pauses".

Mr Guterres said the "nightmare in Gaza" is not only a humanitarian crisis but a "crisis of humanity" and said the parties to the conflict, as well as the international community, have a fundamental responsibility to stop the suffering.

On Monday, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said the Palestinian death toll in the territory had reached 10,000 since Israel began the attacks, in response to Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7.

International organizations have said that hospitals cannot cope with the wounded and that food and clean water are running out, while aid is absolutely insufficient.

"We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. 30 days have passed. Enough is enough. It must stop now," the heads of several United Nations bodies said in a statement on Monday, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UN aid chief Martin Griffiths.

Secretary-General Guterres expressed concern for hundreds of children who die and are injured in Gaza every day, for dozens of journalists who have been killed and for UN aid workers.

UNRWA, the agency that helps Palestinians, has lost 89 staff since October 7, some of them with entire family members.

"We must act now to find a way out of this endless path of brutal and horrific destruction," he said.

The UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Monday but failed to adopt any measures. It is the fourth time that this organization has failed to adopt a resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire and is currently discussing a fifth version of the compromise.

The United States says there is still no agreement.

"We have talked about humanitarian pauses and we are interested in working on a formula at this point, but there is disagreement within the Council whether this is acceptable," US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said after the meeting./ VOA