UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (2nd L) attends a plenary session during the emergency aid summit "Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza" in Sweimeh, Jordan, June 11, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Amman, June 12 (RHC)-- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for opening all available routes into Gaza to let humanitarian aid through to those people trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel has been engaged in an atrocious genocidal campaign against the defenseless Palestinian people in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Speaking on Tuesday at an emergency aid summit in Jordan, Guterres and several regional leaders discussed urgent humanitarian response for Palestinians enduring Israel’s savagery, calling on the regime to end the brutal siege and stop starving the people of Gaza by blocking access to food and water.
Guterres said: “The horror must stop.” It’s high time for a ceasefire.”
All obstacles for the immediate, sustainable and adequate access to humanitarian and relief aid to Gaza from all border crossings must be removed to allow the necessary conditions for the delivery and distribution of aid to all areas, he said.
He described the Israeli-imposed situation in the Gaza Strip as “deplorable. “The speed and scale of the carnage and killing in Gaza is beyond anything in my years as secretary-general.”
Guterres said since the complete closure of border crossings, the flow of “critical humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, which was already woefully inadequate, has plummeted by two-thirds.”
Guterres has also called on parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.
“This includes facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid both into and inside Gaza as they have committed. All available routes into Gaza must be operational and the land routes are absolutely crucial.”
Guterres called for protection of UNRWA workers who “need unimpeded access.” “Civilians must be allowed to seek safety and civilians and the infrastructure they rely on must never be militarized or targeted.”
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordination Martin Griffiths described the condition in Gaza as a “stain on our humanity” and appealed for $2.5 billion to meet the humanitarian needs of Gazans from April until December.
