The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on December 22 at the UN headquarters in New York calling for an acceleration of aid deliveries to the civilian population in Gaza. Kyodo/Portal
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is “offering a lifeline to Hamas” by calling for a humanitarian ceasefire, Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in an interview with CNN on Saturday.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday calling for urgent steps to allow “safe” and “unimpeded” humanitarian access to the entire Gaza Strip, but without calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
“We thank the United States for its diplomatic support at the United Nations and for preventing such a resolution from passing the Security Council,” Regev said.
The US abstained from voting on Friday's resolution after previously vetoing previous efforts on the Israel-Hamas war at the UN Security Council.
Asked about Israeli Defense Ministry senior official in charge of Gaza Moshe Tetro's claim that “there is no food shortage in Gaza,” Regev said there had been Israeli-approved food shipments in recent days. He added that the trucks were still waiting at the border crossing to enter, and it was “not because of Israel.”
“One has to ask the following question: 'Is it possible that Hamas knows that its only chance of survival is to sacrifice the people of Gaza and to say that we will not allow the distribution of humanitarian aid?'” Regev said .
He also defended Israel's calls for people to leave certain areas of the Gaza Strip, saying that “all the problems with relocation are nothing compared to the possibility of being killed if caught in the crossfire.”
Regev said the Israel Defense Forces' previous calls to move people from the north to the south were “common sense” and “the right thing to do” given the circumstances.
“After the fighting started in the south, we had to be more specific and asked people to go to certain areas where we do not want to see serious, intense fighting,” Regev said.