GAZA, (PIC)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday evening again called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.
“I renew my appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. This will ensure sufficient aid gets to where it is needed, facilitate the release of hostages, and help lower tensions around the Middle East,” he told a high-level open debate of the Security Council on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
No effective humanitarian aid operation can function under the conditions that have been forced on Palestinians in Gaza and on humanitarian workers, he said.
Humanitarian delivery is not an exercise in counting trucks. It is about ensuring the right volume and quality of assistance reach people in need. To be able to do its work, the United Nations needs to see a set of operational requirements met, said Guterres.
“We need safety. We are operating in a war zone. The current humanitarian notification mechanisms do not offer any real confidence for operations and planning humanitarian responses. A number of serious incidents have shown how these essential mechanisms need to be substantially improved. Safety also entails reliable and cleared roads inside Gaza, and unimpeded crossings at checkpoints.”
“We need to be equipped to do our job. This includes telecommunications equipment, so convoys can communicate with each other; armored vehicles and protective gear, given the ongoing hostilities and the widespread contamination with explosive remnants of war; far greater logistical capacity; spare parts for infrastructure such as desalination plants, and other critical humanitarian items,” he said.
“I call for rapid, safe, unhindered, expanded, and sustained humanitarian access throughout Gaza. I repeat my call for an end to all violations of international humanitarian law,” said Guterres. “I renew my appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.”
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is appalling, he said.
