UNSG calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza as relief crisis reaches ‘horrific proportions’
By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN head António Guterres on Friday reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, warned that the humanitarian crisis has reached “horrific proportions” and that the world must not let the suffering of Palestinians be overshadowed by other regional conflicts.
He was speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York ahead of his departure to Spain for the International Conference on Financing for Development.
Mr. Guterres said that while the Israel-Iran conflict had dominated recent headlines, the plight of civilians in Gaza remained urgent and dire.
“Families have been displaced again and again and are now confined to less than one-fifth of Gaza’s land,” he said.
“Even these shrinking spaces are under threat. Bombs are falling –on tents, on families, on those with nowhere left to run.”
Mr. Guterres described the situation as the most severe since the onset of the war, citing acute shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
“The search for food must never be a death sentence,” he said, highlighting the danger faced by Palestinians simply trying to survive.
He has called for three urgent steps: an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full, unimpeded humanitarian access.
Guterres pressed for these demands, emphasized that aid workers are starving, hospitals are rationing life-saving supplies and civilians are trapped in unsafe zones.
“What’s needed now is a surge – the trickle must become an ocean,” he said.
He stressed that Israel, as the occupying power, is legally obliged to facilitate humanitarian relief.
“To those in power, I say: enable our operations as international humanitarian law demands. To those with influence, I say: use it,” he added.
He noted a small convoy of UN medical supplies entered Gaza for the first time in months, added that it only underscored the overwhelming scale of the need.
He also cautioned that any aid delivery method must ensure civilian safety, stressed that “operations which place desperate people in or near militarized areas are inherently unsafe.”
“We have the solution a detailed plan grounded in the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence,” he said.
“It worked during the last ceasefire. So it must be allowed to work again,” he said.
Mr. Guterres concluded with a broader political appeal “The only sustainable path to re-establishing hope is by paving the way to the two-State solution. Diplomacy and human dignity for all must prevail.”
