NEW YORK, (PIC)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his concern on Tuesday about the intended Israeli ground assault on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where there are more than one million civilians seeking refuge from the war.
“My sincere hope is that the negotiations for the release of hostages and some form of cessation of hostilities to be successful to avoid all-out offensive over Rafah where the core of the humanitarian system is located and that would have devastating consequences,” Guterres told reporters ahead of a UN Security Council meeting.
His remarks came after a four-way meeting, attended by representatives from Egypt, the US, Israel and Qatar, began Tuesday in Cairo to discuss a truce in Gaza.
“I am particularly worried with the deteriorating conditions and security for humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza. There is a breakdown in public order. At the same time, we have restrictions imposed by Israel that are not improved and limit humanitarian distribution,” Guterres said.
“The conflicting mechanisms to protect humanitarian aid delivery in relation to military operations are “not effective,” the UN chief added.
He also said that he is “troubled by the number of journalists that have been killed in the conflicts.” “Freedom of press is a fundamental condition for people to be able to know what’s really happening everywhere in the world.”
Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip since a cross-border operation by al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas last October, massacring at least 28,473 Palestinian civilians and injuring 68,146 others.
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has pushed 85 percent of the coastal territory’s population into internal displacement, amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, and massive destruction to infrastructure and public and private property.
