UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday called on Hamas to release all hostages and Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that the Middle East was “on the brink”.
“Gaza is running out of water, electricity and other essential supplies,” Guterres said in a statement.
UN supplies of food, water, medical supplies and fuel in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel “can be delivered within hours,” he continued, adding that personnel “must be able to deliver these supplies to be transported safely to and through Gaza” and without obstacles.
And he called on Hamas to release the hostages “immediately” and “unconditionally.”
“Each of these two goals is valid in its own right. They should not become an object of negotiation and should be implemented because it is the right thing to do,” said Guterres, who said it was his duty to make both decisions “in this dramatic moment when we are on the brink of the Middle East.” Standing on the edge.
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Israel declared war on Hamas last Sunday, a day after waves of the Islamist group’s fighters crossed the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and fired more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
The incessant bombings that followed have devastated neighborhoods and left at least 2,670 dead in the Gaza Strip, most of them ordinary Palestinians.
Israel also cut off all water, electricity and food supplies to the densely populated coastal enclave before resuming water supplies to the south on Sunday.
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The Israeli army has urged residents of the northern Gaza Strip – nearly half of its 2.4 million people – to seek safety ahead of an expected ground offensive south.
Aid groups have warned of a humanitarian disaster in the region, with nearly a million people displaced and Palestinians complaining they are running out of water.
The Israeli military said Sunday it had confirmed that 155 people were still being held hostage by Hamas since the group’s deadly attack last week.
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