The development follows a series of meetings with the sides held in Riyadh and Muscat, his office said in a statement on Saturday.
Special Envoy Hans Grundberg welcomed their commitment to a set of measures to implement a nation-wide ceasefire, improve living conditions, and engage in preparations for the resumption of an inclusive political process under UN auspices.
“Thirty million Yemenis are watching and waiting for this new opportunity to provide for tangible results and progress towards lasting peace,” he said.
“The parties have taken a significant step. Their commitments are, first and foremost, an obligation to the Yemeni people to progress towards a future that meets the legitimate aspirations of all Yemenis,” he added.
Roadmap and restraint
Mr. Grundberg will now engage with the parties to establish a roadmap under UN auspices that includes these commitments and supports their implementation.
The UN roadmap will include, among other elements, the parties’ commitment to implement a nationwide ceasefire, pay all public sector salaries, resume oil exports, open roads in Taiz and other parts of Yemen, and further ease restrictions on Sana’a Airport and the Hudaydah port, according to the statement.
The roadmap will also establish implementation mechanisms and prepare for a Yemeni-owned political process under UN auspices.
Mr. Grundberg expressed deep appreciation for the key roles played by Saudi Arabia and Oman in supporting the parties to reach this point.
He urged all sides to exercise maximum restraint at this critical time to allow for a conducive environment for dialogue and the successful conclusion of agreement on the roadmap.
“The parties have taken a significant step. Their commitments are, first and foremost, an obligation to the Yemeni people to progress towards a future that meets the legitimate aspirations of all Yemenis,” he said, adding that “we are ready to accompany them on every step of the way.”
“Starvation must never be a means or result of warfare,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk said, responding to an alarming food security report released on Thursday that confirmed repeated warnings of catastrophic hunger levels in the besieged enclave amid ongoing fighting.
In a tweet, Mr. Türk urged Israel to act immediately to ensure that all those not involved in the clashes between Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas fighters “to facilitate humanitarian food deliveries commensurate with needs”.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report explained that famine could happen within the next six months if the current situation of intense conflict and restricted aid access persists.
The entire population of Gaza – roughly 2.2 million people – is already living with crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity.
The IPC report stressed that although the threshold of famine has not been crossed, humanitarians are particularly concerned about malnutrition among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and the elderly.
Ordeal for teenage girls
Highlighting the extent of the humanitarian crisis throughout the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, has warned that more than 690,000 women and teenage girls barely have any access to menstrual hygiene products.
“UNRWA distributes sanitary napkins, but like everything else we distribute, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the needs of those in Gaza,” said spokesperson Tamara Alrifai in a tweet.
Meanwhile, UN aid coordination office OCHA reported heavy Israeli bombardments on Thursday from air, land, and sea across most of the Gaza Strip, along with Hamas rocket fire into Israel.
“Intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continued, in most areas of Gaza, with the exception of Rafah. The firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel continued,” according to the OCHA situation report.
The attack on the Rasak police station in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province, which is prone to unrest, was claimed by “Jaish al-Adl,” a Sunni islamist organization active in the region. This was the latest in a string of similar incidents reported in the province, including a deadly armed attack on police officers in July, and the killing of Iranian border guards in Saravan, in May.
In a statement released on Saturday by Council President José de la Gasca of Ecuador, the members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and “wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured”.
The members of the Security Council, the statement continues, reaffirm that “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” and underline “the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers, and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.”
The members go on to urge all States to cooperate actively with the Iranian authorities, as well as all other relevant authorities in this regard, and reaffirm the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
In response to a question raised at Friday’s press briefing at UN Headquarters, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said that the United Nations strongly condemns the 15 December attack, and expresses “deep condolences to the bereaved families and the people and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
According to the team, Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor, limited to no pain management is available at the hospital, and the emergency department is so full that workers must take care not to step on patients on the floor.
Al-Shifa Hospital, formerly the most important and largest referral hospital in Gaza, is now barely functioning: the operating theatres and other major services are not working due to lack of fuel, oxygen, specialized medical staff, and supplies. The hospital is only able to provide basic trauma stabilization, and has no blood for transfusion.
A handful of doctors and nurses, and some 70 volunteers, are working under what WHO staff described as “unbelievably challenging circumstances” in a hospital “in need of resuscitation.”
In a statement released on Saturday, WHO said that it is committed to strengthening Al-Shifa Hospital in the coming weeks, so that it can resume at least basic functionality, provide critically needed lifesaving services, and serve “a besieged people trapped in a cycle of death, destruction, hunger, and disease”.
Substantial additional specialized medical, nursing and support staff, including emergency medical teams are urgently needed, and basic humanitarian needs are not being met: tens of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in the hospital, which is experience a severe shortage of food and safe water.
Currently, Al-Ahli Arab Hospital remains the only partially functional hospital in north Gaza along with three minimally functional hospitals – Al-Shifa, Al Awda and Al Sahaba Medical Complex – down from 24 before the conflict. WHO has grave concerns about the unfolding situation at Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza, which has reportedly been at the centre of a military operation.
The UN workers at Al-Shifa Hospital were taking part in a joint UN mission, made up of staff from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS), and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS). The team delivered medicines and surgical supplies, orthopedic surgery equipment, and anesthesia materials and drugs to the hospital.
“Silence the guns and return to dialogue – the suffering inflicted on civilians is too much to bear. More violence is not the answer. It will bring neither peace nor security,” Volker Türk said in a statement, voicing deep concern that negotiations towards a continuation of last week’s pause had reportedly stalled.
Fighting resumed on Friday and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombardments, he said, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health.
No aid entered the enclave via the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Friday, and delivery on Saturday was restricted, further impacting humanitarian operations to support millions amid a scarcity of food, water, fuel and other basic essentials.
No safe place
Mr. Türk feared the renewed and intensified hostilities would lead to even more death, disease, and destruction.
“As a result of Israel’s conduct of hostilities and its orders for people to leave the north and parts of the south, hundreds of thousands are being confined into ever smaller areas in southern Gaza without proper sanitation, access to sufficient food, water and health supplies, even as bombs rain down around them,” he said, adding “there is no safe place in Gaza.”
He stressed that international law and human rights law uphold the protection of civilians and the facilitation of unimpeded humanitarian access to people in need.
Concern for north Gaza
The UN human rights chief also highlighted how hundreds of thousands of people remaining in northern Gaza are at renewed risk of bombardment and continue to be deprived of food and other essentials.
He said this appalling situation and the orders to move south means people are essentially being forced to move in what appears to be an attempt to empty northern Gaza of Palestinians.
“The world bore witness of week upon week of horror since this latest crisis began, marked by extremely grave concerns around wilful killing of civilians, firing of indiscriminate rockets, indiscriminate attacks using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas, forms of collective punishment, obstruction of humanitarian aid, and hostage-taking – all forbidden under international law,” he said.
He added that extremely serious allegations of multiple and grave breaches of international law must be fully investigated and those responsible held to account. In cases where national authorities prove unwilling or unable to carry out such investigations and prosecutions, international investigation is necessary.
Change course now
He urged Member States to do everything in their power to ensure all parties comply with their obligations under international law and prevent the commission of international crimes.
“The time to change course is now. Those that choose to flout international law are on notice that accountability will be served. No-one is above the law,” he said.
WHO calls for ceasefire
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) also called for a ceasefire in Gaza in a post on social media on Saturday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the reports of ongoing hostilities and bombardment were “petrifying”.
He said a WHO team visited Nassar Medical Hospital in southern Gaza on Friday, where countless people had sought shelter and patients were receiving care on the floor.
“These conditions are beyond inadequate -unimaginable for the provision of health care,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I cannot find words strong enough to express our concern over what we’re witnessing. Ceasefire. NOW.”
Trucks with relief supplies continued to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt on Friday after the entry into force of a four-day pause in fighting, UN humanitarians said.
Fuel deliveries for aid operations in the enclave, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, have been largely prohibited since Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October left at least 1,200 dead and 240 taken hostage. This has severely hampered aid efforts and services to provide water and electricity, UN agencies said.
Al-Shifa Hospital
In northern Gaza, WHO led a mission to the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital, where thousands of civilians were seeking shelter alongside medical crews who were scrambling to tend to patients.
The mission was deconflicted with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to ensure safe passage along the agreed route, however, this was a “high-risk operation” in an active conflict zone, with heavy fighting ongoing in close proximity to the hospital, according to WHO.
“The team saw a hospital no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, medical supplies depleted,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on social media. “Given this deplorable situation and the condition of many patients, including babies, health workers requested support to evacuate patients who cannot receive lifesaving care there anymore.”
There are 25 health workers and 291 patients remaining in Al-Shifa, with several patient deaths having occurred over the previous two to three days due to the shutting down of medical services, the UN agency said. Patients include 32 babies in extremely critical condition, two people in intensive care without ventilation and 22 dialysis patients whose access to life-saving treatment has been severely compromised. The vast majority of patients are victims of war trauma, WHO said.
WHO and partners are swiftly developing plans for the immediate evacuation of the remaining patients, staff and their families. Over the next 24 to 72 hours, pending guarantees of safe passage by parties to the conflict, additional missions are being arranged to urgently transport patients to hospitals in southern Gaza, according to WHO.
“We continue to call for protection of health and of civilians,” the WHO chief said. “The current situation is unbearable and unjustifiable.”
‘Tough decisions’
Following weeks of delays, Israeli authorities just approved only half of the daily minimum fuel requirements for humanitarian operations in Gaza, Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), said in a statement.
“Humanitarian organizations should not be forced to make tough decisions between competing lifesaving activities,” he said.
More than 11,000 Gazans have been killed and thousands others wounded since the conflict began, according to the latest situation report by the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA). The lack of fuel has led to communications shutdowns, shuttered water stations, hospital closures and reduced aid deliveries across Gaza.
Authorized deliveries fall short of needs
The situation has worsened since Israel closed all borders for aid deliveries into Gaza on 7 October and, through a deal with Egypt, allowed limited shipments two weeks later through the Rafah crossing.
Israel authorized 120,000 litres to be delivered on Saturday, which will only cover half of daily critical needs. UNRWA was informed that the same amount would be delivered every two days.
Current approved fuel deliveries into Gaza are not enough, UNRWA’s chief said.
“This is far from enough to cover the needs for desalination plants, sewage pumps, hospitals, water pumps in shelters, aid trucks, ambulances, bakeries and communications networks to work without interruption,” Mr. Lazzarini said. “Fuel should not be restricted for these activities.”
Without the full amount of fuel, he said, people will have only two thirds of their daily needs of clean drinking water.
Without adequate fuel supplies, large parts of Gaza will continue to be flooded with sewage further increasing risks of diseases, and 70 per cent of solid waste will not be removed, posing “a major health hazard”, Mr. Lazzarini said.
OCHA reported that “with no fuel, public sewage pumping stations, 60 water wells in the south, a desalination plant in the middle area, the two main sewage pumps in the south, and the Rafah wastewater treatment plant have all ceased operations in the past few days.”
75 per cent of Gaza’s hospitals not functioning
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of Friday, almost 75 per cent of the hospitals in Gaza – 25 out of 36 – were not functional due to lack of fuel, damage, attacks and insecurity. Eleven hospitals across the Strip are currently partially operational and admitting patients with extremely limited services.
Fuel shortages make it impossible to deliver lifesaving aid at a time when needs are soaring, UN agencies said.
An eight-year-old boy from Rafah City sits amid the rubble of his family’s destroyed home.
Aid ‘cannot be conditional’
“We are forced to handle a reduced number of aid trucks crossing daily into Rafah,” he said. “The last few days have seen a drastic reduction in these services including water availability and sewage clearance with serious consequences on people in need.”
Calling for “adequate, regular, and unconditional delivery of fuel to maintain all our critical lifesaving activities in the Gaza Strip”, he said “humanitarian aid cannot be conditional and must not be used for political or military agendas and gains”.
Attacks on schools
On Saturday morning, media reports indicated fresh attacks on schools.
Adele Khodr, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a social post that the scenes of carnage and death following attacks on Al-Fakhoura and Tal Al Zaatar schools in Gaza that killed many children and women are horrific and appalling.
“These horrible attacks should cease immediately,” she wrote. “Children, schools and shelters are not a target. Immediate ceasefire needed now!”
Echoing that call, Mr. Lazzarini reacted to reports of attacks on UNRWA schools that were sheltering thousands of displaced people.
“These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop,” he said in a social media post on X. “A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer.”
“What we do know is that the health system is on its knees,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in the wake of Hamas militants’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October that left 1,200 dead and the heavy bombardment of the enclave by the Israeli military in response.
‘Endless need’
Speaking from Jerusalem to journalists in Geneva via Zoom, he explained that 47 out of 72 primary healthcare centres were no longer functioning and others were only partially functioning. Close to 75 per cent of hospitals (35 to 36) were no longer operational. “So there’s clearly not enough support for this endless need,” he said.
The development comes after the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, reported a communications blackout in Gaza on Thursday as telecoms firms ran out of fuel to run their generators. The shutdown threatened to disrupt the coordination of humanitarian aid convoys on Friday, the UN agency said.
Rescue teams halted
Dr.Peeperkorn said that before the conflict erupted, Gazans had access to some 3,500 hospital beds. Today, only an estimated 1,400 are available, although the actual requirement is likely closer to 5,000. He added that in Gaza City, meanwhile, “active ground operations” “along with the lack of fuel, had halted the movement of rescue teams and ambulances in many areas”.
In its latest update on Thursday evening, the UN aid coordination office OCHA reported the previous24 hours had seen “heavy airstrikes, shelling and fighting”.
The bulletin detailed an airstrike on 15 November at about 6pm “during the evening prayer time (in) the vicinity of the Ihya’ As Sunna Mosque in As Sabra neighbourhood” of Gaza City “reportedly killing 50 people and injuring others”.
The OCHA bulletin also updated information about Israeli troops and tanks that have been continuing their raid on the vast Al-Shifa hospital compound, reportedly taking control of several sections.
Citing the hospital’s director, the UN agency said that the southern section of the compound had been damaged “including the radiology department, and the forces took several corpses from within the hospital”.
Some 807,000 Palestinians remain in the north of the enclave, which represents about two-thirds of the population there before the latest escalation, according to OCHA. The other third of the population, about 400,000, have been likely displaced to the south.
“Hundreds of thousands” of those left in the north now shelter in public facilities, including schools, hospitals and with host families.
Soaring needs
As health needs soar, Dr.Peeperkorn said that a lack of fuel, water, food and medical supplies has made it harder for the hospitals and health facilities still “partially operational” to help them.
“WHO is extremely concerned about the spread of diseases as the rainy season and winter arrive. Overcrowding in shelters and the overall lack of water and sanitation across Gaza could increase the risk of transmission,” he said.
Citing data from the Gazan Ministry of Health, UNRWA and WHO, he added that there had been 71,224 recorded cases of acute respiratory infections, 44,202 cases of diarrhoea (22,554 in children under five), 808 cases of chickenpox, and more than 14,195 skin rashes, 10,952 cases of scabies and lice.
Weaponizing water
In a related development, a UN-appointed independent rights expert on Friday urged Israel to stop using water as a weapon of war.
Clean water and fuel needs to be allowed into Gaza to activate the water supply network and desalination plants in the besieged enclave “before it is too late”, said Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.
“Every hour that passes with Israel preventing the provision of safe drinking water in the Gaza strip, in brazen breach of international law, puts Gazans at risk of dying of thirst and diseases related to the lack of safe drinking water,” he said.
Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council and are neither UN staff nor paid for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation.
The regional directors of the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA), children’s agency UNICEF and health agency WHO, said they were “horrified” at latest reports which indicate many have been killed – including children – in facilities across Gaza city and other northern areas of the Strip.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society is reporting that the second largest hospital in Gaza, Al-Quds, is in effect out of service due to fuel shortages with the NGO saying it has only been able to make sporadic contact with the facility.
Al Shifa ‘not functioning’: Tedros
Writing on social media platform X, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said having managed to establish contact with the largest hospital, Al Shifa, in the past few hours, “the situation is dire and perilous.”
He said medics had been three days without electricity and water “and with very poor internet which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential care.
“The constant gunfire and bombings in the area have exacerbated the already critical circumstances. Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly“, he added.
He said the hospital “is not functioning as a hospital anymore”, concurring with the regional directors that there must be international intervention.
Communications down
News reports quoting the health ministry, said earlier on Saturday that five wounded patients have died because they could not be operated on due to a lack of fuel.
Two babies in the intensive care unit there were reported to have died on Saturday, with water, food and electricity cut off.
Tedros expressed grave concern for the safety of staff and patients caught in crossfire late on Saturday noting that Israeli tanks were reportedly surrounding Al Shifa.
The Israeli military has repeatedly denied its forces are targeting hospitals, claiming that Hamas and other militants are using the facilities as shields with their headquarters located beneath Al Shifa.
“Intense hostilities surrounding several hospitals in northern Gaza are preventing safe access for health staff, the injured, and other patients”, said the statement released by Laila Baker of UNFPA, UNICEF Regional Director Adele Khodr, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, of WHO.
Babies dying
“Premature and new-born babies on life support are reportedly dying due to power, oxygen, and water cuts at Al-Shifa Hospital, while others are at risk. Staff across a number of hospitals are reporting lack of fuel, water and basic medical supplies, putting the lives of all patients at immediate risk.”
Over the past 36 days, WHO has recorded at least 137 attacks on healthcare in Gaza, resulting in 521 deaths and 686 injuries, including 16 deaths and 38 injuries of health workers, the regional directors said.
The world cannot stand silent while hospitals which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation and despair
Attacks on medical facilities and civilians are unacceptable and are a violation of international law, they continued.
Right to medical assistance
“They cannot be condoned. The right to seek medical assistance, especially in times of crisis, should never be denied”, the statement said.
More than half of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip are closed while those remaining “are under massive strain”.
Shortages of water, food, and fuel are also threatening the wellbeing of thousands of displaced people, including women and children, who are sheltering in hospitals.
Death and despair
“The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair.
“Decisive international action is needed now to secure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and prevent further loss of life, and preserve what’s left of the health care system in Gaza”, the directors said.
“Unimpeded, safe and sustained access is needed now to provide fuel, medical supplies and water for these lifesaving services. The violence must end now.”
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, warned that fuel is not only putting lives at risk in hospital, but water pumps, desalination plants and wastewater treatment centres are all “grinding to a halt.”
She tweeted that public health crises are emerging and “humanitarian operations will be next.”
Philippe Lazzarini was addressing an emergency summit convened by the League of Arab States and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation where he called for urgent support for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on three fronts.
He called on leaders at the Arab-Islamic summit to “act now to change the trajectory” of the crisis that began with the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October.
According to news reports, The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in his opening remarks called for an immediate end to Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the release of all hostages and prisoners being held by all parties to the conflict.
The “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza has underlined the failure of the international community and UN Security Council to end Israel’s “gross violations of international humanitarian laws”, he said, adding that Palestinians were victims of double standards.
‘Dehumanized and abandoned’
The UNRWA chief told ministers assembled in the Saudi capital from across the Islamic world that Gazans “feel dehumanized and abandoned”, yearning for reassurance that their plight is being recognized by “Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters”.
He said beyond Gaza, the West Bank is also at “boiling point” while the Lebanon-Israel border is “simmering with tension”.
Mr. Lazzarini highlighted the desperation he had seen for himself in Gaza last week: “Every little girl and boy I met in an UNRWA shelter asked me for bread and water. Children used to learn and laugh in the school I visited.
“Now, the school is an overcrowded shelter that lacks the minimum standards for a dignified life.”
He mourned the loss of 101 UNRWA colleagues during the Israeli bombardment, noting that UN flags will be lowered to half-mast worldwide on Monday to honour them.
Ceasefire paramount
The UNRWA chief said his first urgent request for support was to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire “with strict adherence to international humanitarian law” that would prevent further loss of civilian life, including UN facilities and hospitals.
“I am sure that many of you can influence action on the ground. No effort should be spared”, he told the summit.
Secondly, he said there must be a meaningful and continuous flow of humanitarian aid which can match “the immense humanitarian needs.”
Third he said UNRWA urgently needs both funds, and strong advocates from across the Arab and African Islamic world.
“UNRWA is not only the largest UN agency in Gaza but also the last remaining lifeline for 2.2 million people”, he said. “We can offer much more if we have the means.”
Finally, he called on leaders to “firmly defend the agency against false and insidious claims that its schools teach hatred or that it has let the civilians in Gaza down. These accusations come from those who want us to fail.”
‘We must step back from the brink’
A lasting political solution, he said, was the only way to prevent future cycles of violence:
“A genuine prospect of Palestinian statehood is critical.”
“We must step back from the brink before it’s too late. I urge you, members of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act now to change the trajectory of this crisis.”
In a statement, the Israeli military denied that it had targeted Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which they claim is above a Hamas command post, but have acknowledged that fighting is happening “around” the facility.
UN relief and humanitarian affairs chief, Martin Griffiths, tweeted that in light of “horrific reports of attacks”, there could be “no justification for acts of war in healthcare facilities leaving them with no power, food or water and shooting at patients and civilians trying to flee.
“This is unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop.
“Hospitals much be places of greater safety and those who need them must trust that they are places of shelter and not of war.”
Principle of proportionality
The UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, reinforced the call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, stressing that civilian infrastructure “cannot be used for military operations.”
“Patients, medical staff as well as displaced people taking shelter must be protected”, she tweeted.
“Principles of proportionality, distinction must be respected.”
News reports quoting a non-governmental organisation representing doctors, said that two premature babies have died in the last few hours at Al-Shifa, after the last working generator was damaged during airstrikes.
The hospital has reportedly now run out of water, food and electricity.
Latest figures from OCHA, sourcing the health ministry in Gaza – which the UN regards as reliable – report that more than 10,800 have been killed in the enclave since the 7 October attacks and more than 26,900 injured.
Israel on Friday revised the number of fatalities stemming from the Hamas terror attacks down to 1,200.
Lives ‘hanging by a thread’
Earlier on Saturday, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEFsaid that the “near total breakdown and attacks on medical and healthcare services”, particularly in northern Gaza, had left lives “hanging by a thread.”
Noting that medical care at the Al-Rantisi and Al-Nasr children’s hospitals in the Strip had “reportedly almost ceased” they said only a small generator remained to power the intensive care unit.
“Children’s right to life and health is being denied,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director. “The protection of hospitals and delivery of lifesaving medical supplies is an obligation under the laws of war, and both are needed now.”
Meanwhile, medical facilities in the middle and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, already overwhelmed by the sheer number of injuries that need treatment, are now having to also cope with treating the needs of an influx of hundreds of thousands of people into even more densely packed spaces, UNICEF noted.
“These existing services must be supported and strengthened to deal with the increasing challenges they face”, the agency said.
Children’s lives are “hanging by a thread” said Mr. Khodr. Children in the north have “nowhere to go and are extreme risk.”
More than 800 people have been reportedly killed by armed groups in Ardamata, West Darfur, an area which has so far been less affected by the conflict that erupted in April.
Ardamata also housed a camp for internally displaced people, Close to 100 shelters have been razed to the ground, while extensive looting – including of UNHCR relief items – has also taken place.
Two decades ago, thousands were killed across Darfur and millions displaced in fighting between Sudanese Government forces backed by allied militia known as the Janjaweed on one side, and rebel groups resisting the autocratic rule of President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019.
UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, warned in June that if fighting in West Darfur continued, including attacks based on ethnicity, this could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Violations, extortion and killings
The UN refugee agency expressed alarm over reports of continued sexual violence, torture, arbitrary killings, extortion of civilians and targeting of specific ethnic groups.
“Twenty years ago, the world was shocked by the terrible atrocities and human rights violations in Darfur. We fear a similar dynamic might be developing,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
“An immediate end to the fighting and unconditional respect for the civilian population by all parties are crucial to avoid another catastrophe,” he added.
Millions displaced
More than 4.8 million people have been displaced inside Sudan since fighting broke out in mid-April between the army and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). A further 1.2 million have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
UNHCR reported that more than 8,000 people fled to Chad in the last week alone, though this is likely to be an underestimate due to challenges registering new arrivals.
The agency and partners are working with the government to prepare for more refugees entering the country.
“I am horrified by the reported attack in Gaza on an ambulance convoy outside Al Shifa hospital. The images of bodies strewn on the street outside the hospital are harrowing,” the UN chief said in a statement, issued late on Friday New York time.
He stated that he did not forget the terror attacks committed in Israel by Hamas and the killing, maiming and abductions, including of women and children. He stressed that all hostages held in Gaza must be released immediately and unconditionally.
Mr. Guterres added that for nearly one month, civilians in Gaza, including children and women, have been besieged, denied aid, killed, and bombed out of their homes.
“This must stop,” he stressed.
Nowhere is safe
Mr. Guterres further noted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “horrific”.
“Not nearly enough food, water and medicine are coming in to meet people’s needs. Fuel to power hospitals and water plants is running out,” he said, noting that shelters by the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) were at nearly four times their full capacity “and are being hit in bombardments”.
“Morgues are overflowing. Shops are empty. The sanitation situation is abysmal. We are seeing an increase in diseases and respiratory illnesses, especially among children. An entire population is traumatized. Nowhere is safe.”
Respect humanitarian law
Renewing his appeals for a humanitarian ceasefire, the Secretary-General underscored that international humanitarian law must be respected.
“Civilians and civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian and medical workers and assets must be protected. Civilians must also not be used as human shields,” he said, urging also that essential supplies and services, and unimpeded humanitarian access must be safely allowed into and across Gaza “at a scale commensurate with this dramatic situation”.
The UN chief underscored, “all those with influence must exert it to ensure respect for the rules of war, end the suffering and avoid a spillover of the conflict that could engulf the whole region.”
Secretary-General António Guterres said on X, formerly Twitter: “I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, together with the unconditional release of hostages and the delivery of relief at a level corresponding to the dramatic needs of the people in Gaza, where a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in front of our eyes.”
The UN chief is on his way to Nepal but is following the situation closely. His spokesman in NY said that at a stopover in Doha, Qatar, Mr. Guterres spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and the two discussed the current situation in the Middle East and spoke about the coordination of humanitarian efforts for civilians in Gaza.
The UN health agency says that it has lost contact with its staff in the enclave but is still trying to gather information on the overall impact on civilians and health care.
“WHO reminds all parties to the conflict to take all precautions to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. This includes health workers, patients, health facilities and ambulances, and civilians who are sheltering in these facilities,” the agency said in a press release.
Active measures must be taken, the agency continued, to ensure civilians and health workers are not harmed and safe passage provided for the movement of desperately needed medical supplies, fuel, water and food into and across Gaza.
WHO’s warning comes as the crisis in the Gaza Strip enters its third week following the 7 October incursion by Hamas militants into Israel and Israel’s subsequent declaration of war.
The ongoing violence has left thousands dead on both sides and while UN and other humanitarian agencies have been able to move a trickle of aid, goods and health supplied into the ravaged enclave through the Rafah crossing in Egypt, much more is needed to meet the skyrocketing needs.
Volker Türk’s appeal came as UN humanitarians continued to issue dire warnings about the full scale of the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
‘Crumbs’ of aid
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), said that the “few (aid) trucks” which have come in from Egypt since 21 October are “nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference for two million people”.
“What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow. To succeed we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need,” he insisted.
UN human rights office (OHCHR) Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva about the “harrowing testimonies” of parents writing children’s names on their arms to be able to identify their remains.
Staff on the ground tell her that each night they make calculations on whether to sleep in the open or indoors, weighing the risks of being killed by a falling ceiling or shrapnel.
A living ‘nightmare’
UN World Food Programme (WFP) Representative in Palestine Samer Abdeljaber said that people in Gaza described the situation as a “nightmare – and we have no way to wake up from it”. He highlighted the dire conditions in UNRWA-designated shelters which are almost three times over capacity.
“In the room the size of a classroom 70 people sleep, eat, drink and take care of their families”, he said, and there are eight toilets for 25,000 people.
‘Terrible choices’
Speaking from Jerusalem, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, stressed that “all humanitarian assistance and humanitarian issues have to be unconditional”.
The 224 hostages held in Gaza need to be released “immediately and unconditionally”, she said, reiterating calls from the UN chief António Guterres.
Humanitarian aid also has to be able to reach people in Gaza “unconditionally”, she said.
Ms. Hastings highlighted the “terrible choices” which the aid community is confronted with, given the very small trickle of aid that has been coming in, the fuel shortage and the security situation.
She deplored the need for humanitarians to decide “which communities do you send the items to, which bakeries, which desalination plant should be turned on or off, which hospital do you send medication to”.
Services collapse due to fuel crisis
Ms. Hastings said that in normal times more than 780 trucks with fuel would have crossed into Gaza since 7 October. In the absence of deliveries UNRWA has been relying on a sole fuel pump situated close to the Rafah border but access has been “sporadic” and supplies were dwindling very fast.
Forced to ration fuel, bakeries in the Strip will only be able to bake bread for a million people for another 11 days, Ms. Hastings warned, while UNRWA warned that some are already going hungry.
WFP’s Samer Abdeljaber said that only two WFP-contracted bakeries are working, compared to 23 at the start of the operation.
Fuel is also critical for to power water desalination plants so that they can produce drinking water, and pumping stations.
Ms. Hastings flagged that with sanitation backed up, raw sewage is being pumped into the sea in Gaza but once fuel runs out, “whether it’s tomorrow or Monday”, sewage pumping will become impossible and wastewater will be “overflowing in the streets”.
Babies in incubators at risk
Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, UN health agency (WHO) representative in the occupied Palestinian territory told journalists that a minimum of 94,000 litres of fuel per day are needed to “keep critical functions running” at 12 major hospitals in Gaza.
Two in three hospitals in the enclave are “partially functional” Dr. Peeperkorn said. He underscored that power and medical supplies shortages were putting at risk 1,000 kidney patients in need of dialysis, 130 premature babies in incubators, 2,000 cancer patients and scores of others on ventilators in intensive care units.
Aid ‘a drop in the ocean’
Humanitarians stressed that the lack of fuel is also compromising the ability of aid trucks entering through the Rafah crossing to distribute the supplies across Gaza.
Ms. Hastings underscored the difficulty in getting aid to the north, which is under evacuation orders, but has seen displaced people move back from the south due to airstrikes and “untenable” living conditions there.
She also reiterated that the 74 aid trucks which have been allowed in through Rafah since 21 October, with another eight or so expected today, were very little compared to the 450 trucks entering Gaza daily prior to the crisis – “a drop in the ocean”, according to WHO’s Dr. Peeperkorn.
WFP’s Samer Abdeljaber said that his agency has only been able to bring in under two per cent of the food required. WFP has delivered fresh bread and canned tuna to half a million people in shelters in Gaza but “for every person receiving assistance, six more are in need”.
Some 39 WFP trucks are at or near the Egyptian border with Gaza awaiting entry, Mr. Abdeljaber said, and other agencies have also pre-positioned supplies there.
If sustained access and fuel are granted, the agency plans to bring life-saving food to more than one million people within the next two months, he said.
Paulo Pinheiro spoke to UN News this week after presenting his latest report to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, which examines a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues.
The Syrian war, which began in March 2011, is at its “worst point” in four years, he said, while stressing that the escalating violence is not a consequence of any other conflict.
International involvement
“This aggravation is a result of the presence of different Member States in the theatre of operation,” he said, listing Türkiye, Russia, and the United States, as well as forces connected to the Kurdish population in the northeast.
The Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in August 2011 to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in Syria since the start of the war.
Although not in his mandate, Mr. Pinheiro pointed to two situations in Syria that he said are linked to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine, with the first being Israeli airstrikes against the airports in Damascus and Aleppo – both critical for humanitarian aid flows into the country.
“Another connected complicator is the presence of Hezbollah – that is a political force, military force, in Lebanon but it is also present in the theatre of operations in Syria,” he said.
‘Competition’ for coverage
Mr. Pinheiro also lamented “the competition for visibility in the international media”, saying “at this time, it’s difficult to try to remind the world that the war in Syria continues.”
The UN and partners continue to respond to the immense humanitarian needs in Syria, where more than 15 million people require assistance– a 9 per cent increase over last year.
Last month, the UN welcomed the resumption of aid deliveries into northwest Syria via a border crossing with Türkiye.
The Bab al-Hawa border crossing had closed in July after the UN Security Council failed to reach consensus on two competing resolutions seeking to renew the aid corridor.
Some four million people in northwest Syria – the last rebel-held stronghold – rely on the lifeline, which was established nearly a decade ago through a UN Security Council resolution.
Communities on both sides of the border were also devastated by deadly earthquakes in February, contributing to rising needs.
Echoing that message, UN health agency (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a new appeal on Monday for “sustained safe passage” for medical essentials and fuel to keep health facilities open.
“Lives depend on these decisions,” he insisted on social platform X.
Latest media reports citing the Gaza Ministry of Health indicate that the number of people killed in Gaza since 7 October has risen to 5,087.
Women and children have made up more than 62 per cent of the fatalities, while more than 15,273 people have been injured.
In its latest humanitarian update on the Gaza-Israel crisis UN humanitarian aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 1,000 have been reported missing and “are presumed to be trapped or dead under the rubble”.
Israel: Threefold rise in deaths
According to Israeli official sources quoted by OCHA, some 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, the vast majority in the Hamas attacks on 7 October which triggered the latest conflict.
OCHA said that the reported fatality toll is “over threefold the cumulative number of Israelis killed” since it began recording casualties in 2005.
At least 212 Israeli and foreign nationals are being held captive in Gaza, the Israeli authorities have said. Two hostages were released last Friday. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called upon Hamas to release hostages immediately and unconditionally.
Trickle of aid
According to media reports a new aid convoy entered Gaza from Egypt on Monday through the Rafah border crossing. This was the third such delivery after the crossing opened on Saturday for the first time since the start of the conflict, following intense diplomatic efforts.
A total of 34 trucks with aid provided by the UN and the Egyptian Red Crescent entered the enclave over the weekend. The UN has stressed that to respond to soaring humanitarian needs, at least 100 aid trucks per day are required.
Desperate need for fuel
The development comes as UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) warned on Sunday that it was set to run out of fuel within three days, putting the humanitarian response in Gaza at risk.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said that without fuel, “there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries” and that “no fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza”.
Education void
Meanwhile, OCHA said that more than 625,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of education for at least 12 days, and 206 schools have been damaged. At least 29 of them are UNRWA-run establishments.
UNRWA reported on Sunday that 29 of its staff members have been killed in Gaza since 7 October – half of them teachers.
In the occupied West Bank, the escalation has also resulted in restrictions on the access to education. OCHA said that all the schools inside the territory were closed from 7 to 9 October, affecting some 782,000 students. As of last week, over 230 schools which cater to some 50,000 students had not reopened.
The 20 trucks carried food, water and medical supplies – items that are desperately needed, along with fuel – as stocks in Gaza dwindle, amid fears of increased deaths due to disease outbreaks and lack of healthcare.
While welcoming the development, agencies such as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have insisted that this cannot be the only convoy, and aid delivery must be continuous and sustained.
‘A drop in the ocean’
Jeremy Hopkins, UNICEF Representative in Egypt, said the agency’s contribution to the convoy – two trucks filled with 40,000 litres of bottled water – was but “a drop in the ocean”, given the immense needs in Gaza, including for a humanitarian ceasefire.
‘We also call on the parties to the conflict to avoid any targeting of health and education facilities, which allows us to deliver the aid safely to the health facilities and everywhere that they are needed,” he said.
Mr. Hopkins spoke to UN News several hours after the convoy passed through the Rafah crossing in southern Egypt, where hundreds more trucks are waiting should the border open up again.
He paid tribute to the dedicated UNICEF team on the ground who continue to serve under fire, and discussed the prospects for additional aid convoys.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Jeremy Hopkins: Today, we were able to include two UNICEF trucks in the convoy with drinking water, 40,000 litres. It’s a drop in the ocean – literally, almost – and that will allow us to reach about 27,000 people with one day’s supply of drinking water. So, a very, very small amount went through today, which reinforces the urgent need to have a sustained humanitarian corridor that is open for supplies. And of course, we hope that there will be additional border posts opening so that the necessary supplies can get in.
UN News: Do you have any information about the next delivery and what that depends on? Do you also have additional emergency supplies in place once the next delivery is granted the green light?
Jeremy Hopkins: So, we have quite a good pipeline of water and water systems equipment, medicine and health systems equipment, and a number of other specialized items for child protection and childcare. We have, I think, 12 trucks loaded on stand-by at the border that can be crossed over in a matter of hours the next time it opens. And we have a pipeline sort of coming in by plane and by truck from Cairo and from international destinations with more medical supplies, more water, water systems supplies. Because we know that the priorities in Gaza right now are water, food, medicine and fuel, and so we are prioritizing our pipeline accordingly. We have one million bottles of drinking water in the pipeline ready, just for example, so we have big quantities of the necessary materials. We just need the corridor to be open on a sustained, continuous basis.
UN News: Is there any information about the next delivery?
Jeremy Hopkins: We know that the authorities and the different parties are continuing to discuss how to manage this border in a more sustainable way, and we have every hope that they will do so. I think the details will become clearer as they become clear.
UN News
UNICEF Representative in Egypt Jeremy Hopkins
UN News: We now have 20 trucks inside Gaza. What are the arrangements and preparations inside the Gaza Strip to deliver the lifesaving supplies?
Jeremy Hopkins: I want to first recognize that we have a very dedicated team of UNICEF State of Palestine staff in Gaza who have been working day and night under terrible, terrible conditions to deliver assistance. So assistance has been ongoing since the beginning and, of course, prior to this particular terrible, terrible round of conflict. I know that our colleagues in Gaza have been repositioning the health centres with pre-positioned medical supplies, keeping some of the water systems running. I know we are down to five per cent of the normal capacity, but there are some water systems running. The only desalination plant that is still going is done so with UNICEF’s support. So, our colleagues – and I want to pay tribute to them – are doing a fantastic job in Gaza.
What we know about the evolving needs is there are one million people displaced. We know that at least 300,000 children are displaced. That means they have no home right now or they are not at home, and that means that the humanitarian needs are extremely urgent. For example, according to international standards, each person should have 15 litres of water to live in health and dignity – that’s drinking and washing and cooking and everything else. Right now, it’s down to little less than three litres of water per person in Gaza. We have these kind of needs and we know how to respond. We simply need the corridor to be opened so that we can respond.
UN News: You said that what entered today is ‘just a drop in the ocean’. Do you know exactly how long the supplies that arrived into Gaza today can cover the needs of people there?
Jeremy Hopkins: What went in today cannot cover the needs at all. It’s a very tiny, tiny proportion of what is needed. We need to have instead of 20 trucks a day at least 100, 200 trucks going in per day – that of course depends on what is on the trucks, but approximately speaking – with food, water, medicine and fuel. That is a necessary condition for us to be able to respond to the humanitarian lifesaving requirements and needs right now.
UN News: Since there is no ceasefire right now, what are the challenges to delivering and moving supplies across Gaza?
Jeremy Hopkins: It is going to be challenging. We need to deliver, and we have a humanitarian imperative which is driving us. At the same time, we do call for a cessation of hostilities immediately. Of course, that is the only way that we can actually deliver safely. But at the same time, we also call on the parties to the conflict to avoid any targeting of health and education facilities, which allows us to deliver the aid safely to the health facilities and everywhere that they are needed. And we also remind the parties that health staff need to be protected in order to carry out their mandate.
The 20-truck convoy that passed through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt carried life-saving supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the UN, including enough water for 22,000 people but only for one day.
The items were approved to cross and be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent, with UN support.
“I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies – including food, water, medicine and fuel – to the people of Gaza, in a safe, dependable, unconditional and unimpeded manner,” Mr. Griffiths said in a statement published on his official account on X, formerly Twitter.
‘Catastrophic’ humanitarian situation
The delivery on Saturday follows days of deep and intense negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that the aid operation resumes as quickly as possible and with the right conditions.
Mr. Griffiths said the already precarious humanitarian situation in Gaza “has reached catastrophic levels” since the hostilities began, and it is critical that aid reaches people in need wherever they are across Gaza, and at the right scale.
“The people of Gaza have endured decades of suffering. The international community cannot continue to fail them,” he said.
‘Lifeline’ amid shortages
The Rafah crossing is the sole one open with Gaza, and hundreds of trucks have been waiting to enter Gaza, where essential items are running out.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) also announced that medical supplies from the agency had crossed the border “but the needs are far higher.”
Posting on X, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the need for safe passage of additional convoys, protection of all humanitarian workers, and sustained access for health aid.
In a statement, WHO said that hospitals inside Gaza have already reached breaking point due to shortages and depletion of medicines and medical supplies, which are a “lifeline” for injured persons or those battling chronic and other illnesses.
Food on the move
The World Food Programme (WFP) said three trucks carrying 60 metric tonnes of emergency food were in the convoy. The supplies included canned tuna, wheat flour, pasta, canned beans and canned tomato paste.
“This food is desperately needed as the conditions inside Gaza are truly catastrophic,” said WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain. Highlighting the need for continuous safe access, she said the 20 trucks were “an important first step, but this convoy has to be the first of many.”
WFP has another 930 metric tonnes of emergency food items at or near the Rafah border, ready to go whenever access is allowed again. These stocks are needed to replenish the agency’s rapidly dwindling supplies inside Gaza.
Since the start of the crisis, WFP has provided assistance to some 520,000 people and is expanding operations to support 1.1 million in the next two months. This assistance includes fresh bread delivered daily to people clustered in UN shelters in areas where access is allowed.
WFP supplies flour to contracted bakeries, which produce bread for distribution. However, lack of power and fuel have forced many bakeries to stop working, and one was even hit on Wednesday.
‘A matter of life or death’
Over 44,000 bottles of drinking water were also on the convoy, or just enough for 22,000 people for one day, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.
“With one million children in Gaza now facing a critical protection and humanitarian crisis, the delivery of water is a matter of life or death. Every minute counts,” said Catherine Russell, the agency’s Executive Director.
The shipment represents a drop in the ocean of immense needs in Gaza, where large parts of critical infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, have been reduced to rubble.
UNICEF said water capacity is at five per cent of normal levels, and Gaza’s nearly 2.3 million residents are now surviving on three litres of water per person per day.
Protect every child
Roughly one million people have been displaced, around half of them children, many of whom are now in overcrowded shelters where limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene are putting young lives at risk of disease outbreaks.
Ms. Russell upheld the need to protect children and for humanitarians to have safe access to reach them and their families.
“Above all, all parties must unconditionally protect every child from harm and afford them the special protection to which they are entitled, in accordance with obligations under international humanitarian law,” she said.
UNICEF has prepositioned additional emergency supplies for up to 250,000 people at the Rafah crossing that can be brought into Gaza in a matter of hours, and more aid is on the way.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi convened leaders from the region and around the world in efforts to de-escalate hostilities following the Hamas incursion into Israel on 7 October, and Israel’s bombing of Gaza and complete siege of the enclave.
The Summit took place one day after the UN chief travelled to the Rafah border crossing in Egypt’s north Sinai, the sole border crossing open with Gaza.
“There I saw a paradox — a humanitarian catastrophe playing out in real time,” he said.
Mr. Guterres noted that hundreds of trucks “teeming with food and other essential supplies” were on the Egyptian side while across the border, two million people in Gaza were going without water, food, fuel, electricity and medicine.
On Saturday, a convoy carrying desperately needed items crossed into Gaza.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid wait to cross into Gaza from Egypt through Rafah.
UN working nonstop
“Those trucks need to move as quickly as possible in a massive, sustained and safe way from Egypt into Gaza,” said Mr. Guterres, adding that the UN is working nonstop with all parties towards a continuous delivery of aid at the scale that is needed.
The Secretary-General stressed that the near-term goals must be clear, repeating his call for immediate, unrestricted and sustained humanitarian aid to Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages by Hamas, and a humanitarian ceasefire now.
He said that the grievances of the Palestinian people are legitimate and long, but nothing can justify the reprehensible assault by Hamas that terrorized Israeli civilians. At the same time, these abhorrent attacks can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
Time for action
He emphasised the need to uphold international humanitarian law, which includes protecting civilians and not attacking hospitals, schools and UN premises currently sheltering half a million people.
He also called for not losing sight of “the only realistic foundation for a true peace and stability”, namely a two-State solution for Israelis and Palestinians.
“The time has come for action,” he said. “Action to end this godawful nightmare. Action to build a future worthy of the dreams of the children of Palestine, Israel, the region and our world.”
Release all hostages
Earlier on Saturday, the UN chief expressed gratitude for the assistance of the Emir of Qatar for his efforts to secure the release of two Americans who had been held hostage in Gaza, his Spokesperson said in a statement.
Mr. Guterres renewed his call for an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and again appealed for unhindered and sustained humanitarian access in Gaza, full respect for international law and the protection of civilians, and international action to avoid the conflict from expanding to the wider region.
