Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for large-scale humanitarian aid to Gaza on Wednesday in his first visit to the blockaded territory as U.N. chief and ordered the immediate release of $4 million from the world body’s emergency relief fund.
“I am deeply moved to be in Gaza today unfortunately to witness one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises that I’ve seen in many years working as a humanitarian in the United Nations” Guterres said.
He later said it was “important to open the closures” in a reference to Israel’s decade-long blockade of Gaza and its border with Egypt that has remained largely closed in recent years.
Guterres made the comments at a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA in the northern Gaza Strip.
Guterres also called for unity among the Palestinian groups. “The division only undermines the cause of the Palestinian people” he said adding that he had a dream to “come back to Gaza one day and to see Gaza as part of a Palestine state in peace and prosperity.”
Guterres is on his first visit to the region since taking office at the beginning of the year. He has met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders aiming to encourage the resumption of peace talks.
