Palestinians walk on a dirt road lined with rubble from destroyed buildings in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City on October 7, 2024, on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. - AFP
CAIRO (AFP): The United Nations chief said Monday the situation in war-torn Gaza was "appalling and apocalyptic", warning conditions faced by Palestinians in the territory may amount to the "gravest international crimes".
In remarks read out on his behalf at a Cairo conference aimed at increasing humanitarian aid, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the international community to "build a foundation for sustainable peace in Gaza and across the Middle East".
The war in Gaza broke out when Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 44,429 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Guterres highlighted the devastating toll of the conflict and the urgent need for international action.
"Malnutrition is rampant... Famine is imminent. Meanwhile, the health system has collapsed," he said.
The UN chief added that Gaza now has "the highest number of children amputees per capita anywhere in the world", with "many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anesthesia".
The secretary-general also criticised the severe restrictions on aid delivery, calling the current levels "grossly insufficient".
According to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) count, only 65 aid trucks per day had been able to enter Gaza this past month, compared to a pre-war average of 500.
International aid organisations have repeatedly raised alarm over the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, warning that civilians are on the brink of famine.
They have said aid shipments reaching the enclave are now at their lowest since the start of the war.
Israel, which early in the conflict imposed a complete siege for a period on the Hamas-ruled territory, has blamed aid issues on what it says is the inability of relief organisations to handle and distribute large quantities of aid.
UN's Guterres said on Monday that the blockade of aid to Gaza "is not a crisis of logistics" but rather "a crisis of political will and of respect for fundamental principles of international humanitarian law".
UNRWA said all the attempts it has made to deliver aid into northern Gaza have either been "denied" or "impeded" between October 6, 2024 and November 25, amid fierce fighting in the area.
Guterres said "if UNRWA is forced to close, the responsibility of replacing its vital services ... would rest with Israel".
In his speech at the conference, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that the agency "remains the backbone of humanitarian response" in Gaza.
He also called for the use of "a robust international legal and political framework" to ensure the continuation of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
"Without this, humanitarians, however selfless and courageous, cannot stay and deliver," he added. - AFP
