Guterres’ latest humanitarian efforts

 

During a visit to the border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Antonio Guterres has appealed for the delivery of as much humanitarian aid to the 2.2 million entrapped Gaza civilians as soon as possible.

Israel has blocked all food, clean water, fuel, electricity and medicines from entering Gaza because of the shocking, surprise attack by Hamas militants on October 7.

The United Nations secretary-general and former Portuguese prime minister has again called on both sides for restraint in the conflict that could escalate into a wider Middle East war.

In appealing for peace, Guterres has noted that while the October 7 attack was unexpected, it was but another example of the division that has long existed between Israelis and Palestinians.

“The most recent violence does not come in a vacuum, but grows out of a long-standing conflict, with a 50-year long occupation and no political end in sight,” he said.

In expressing concern that the conflict could turn into a much wider war, he has warned: “We are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East.”

Another devastating event – an explosion at a hospital in Gaza that reportedly killed about 500 people – has made Guterres’ warning all the more unnerving. Israel insists the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian jihadist missile. Palestinian militants have blamed Israel for the explosion and sparked mass protests across all Arab countries.

President Joe Biden’s brief visit to Tel Aviv was essentially to express unwavering support for Israel’s efforts to eliminate Hamas. Britain’s Prime Minister Richie Sunak also went to Tel Aviv to express solidarity. 

Political leaders in the Western World have condemned Hamas militants as “terrorists” while standing firmly by their “ally”, Israel.

Palestinian militants on the border in Lebanon have been exchanging fire with Israel. Iran and Syria have become a veiled threat in support of Hamas, the group that rules Gaza.

Russia entered the fray by proposing that the UN Security Council adopt a motion for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The text did not include any mention of  the Hamas extremists. It was out-voted.

Vladimir Putin met with China’s Xi Jinping and both are refusing to condemn Hamas. They have said there is no justification for Israel’s blockade of essential supplies or planned invasion of Gaza.

At the start of the conflict, Hamas militants deliberately killed hundreds of Israeli civilians, including young people attending a music festival. More than 200 Israeli hostages who were seized have not yet been released.

Israel responded with relentless bombing of crowded homes in Gaza, the most densely populated place in the world.

Within little more than a week of its initial strike, Hamas had killed about 1,400 Israelis. More than 2,700 Palestinians had been killed in retaliatory airstrikes. Many thousands more have been killed or severely injured.

The almost unimaginable brutality of this war has led a former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, to claim that peace between Israelis and Palestinians will only be brought about with a two-state solution.

Guterres and his senior UN colleagues agree and want Israel to now “reverse course,” otherwise the evacuation demands on Gaza citizens, who have nowhere safe to go, could “transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”