2023-10-15 23:46:24
Disclosure
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, released a statement making requests to both sides of the conflict
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, released a statement making requests to both sides of the conflict, Israel and Hamas, in an appeal to spare human lives.
“At this dramatic moment when we are on the brink of the abyss in the Middle East, it is my role as Secretary General of the United Nations to make two strong humanitarian appeals. To Hamas, the hostages must be released immediately without conditions. To Israel, it must be guaranteed rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and workers, for the good of civilians in Gaza,” he appealed.
Guterres recalled the difficulties experienced by the local population and that help is very close by, but without the possibility of it reaching civilians.
“Gaza is running out of water, electricity and other essential supplies. The United Nations has available stockpiles of food, water, non-food items, medical supplies and fuel, all located in Egypt, Jordan, the Western border and Israel. These items can be dispatched within hours. To ensure delivery, our altruistic staff, along with NGO partners, need to be able to get these supplies to and through Gaza safely, without any impediment to getting them to those in need.”
“Either of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not be used as bargaining chips and need to be implemented, as it is the right thing to do,” added Guterres.
Pope Francis made an appeal this Sunday for the ‘urgent’ creation of humanitarian corridors in Gaza.
The lack of security has been a serious impediment to the work of aid teams. UNRWA (United Nations Agency for Aid to Palestinian Refugees in the East) stated that 14 of its employees have already been killed in attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released this Sunday (15). They would be teachers, engineers, psychologists and a gynecologist. The difficulty in receiving resources is making humanitarian aid unfeasible, says Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s general commissioner.
Unicef also reported that more than 700 Palestinian children have died in Gaza. “According to the latest reports from local health authorities and the media, at least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 700 children, and more than 8,714 people have been injured, including more than 2,450 children,” said Sara Al Hattab of Unicef. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for Palestine, there are 50 thousand pregnant women in the territory.
Today, Israel announced that it has restored water supplies to the Gaza region. Power was also cut last Wednesday (11), as was access to food and fuel distribution.
Palestinians trying to flee are trapped at the southern border, there is no guarantee that Egypt will allow them to pass. Representatives of the United States government claim that Hamas is also preventing convoys from flowing. Both Israel and Hamas trade accusations over attacks on refugees.
The death toll in the war between Israel and the armed Palestinian group Hamas has surpassed 3,700 this Sunday (15). In total, 1,400 Israelis were killed, according to Israeli authorities, and 2,329 Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. At least 13,000 people have been injured since the start of the conflict, including 3,400 Israelis and around 9,714 in Gaza.
#calls #release #hostages #transfer #humanitarian #aid