UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and demanded global “action to end this god-awful nightmare”, reports RTE.
Speaking at a peace conference in Cairo as the war entered its third week, Guterres said the Palestinian enclave of 2.4 million people was suffering a “humanitarian catastrophe” that has left thousands dead and more than a million displaced.
His comments came hours after the first batch of humanitarian aid trucks entered southern Gaza, which Guterres said needed to be quickly supported by sending “much more” aid.
The Palestinians “a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed”, he told the Cairo “Summit for Peace” which was attended by many Arab leaders.
Tánaiste Michael Martin echoed Mr Guterres, saying the government does not believe 20 trucks of food and medical supplies will be enough to meet the needs of Gazans.
“I don’t think 20 trucks is enough,” Mr Martin told RTÉ News.
“We know the United Nations Refugee Agency can deal with and disperse about 100 trucks per day. We trust the United Nations agencies and we know the situation on the ground is dire. We know that from UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees); we know that from the World Health Organisation and it is vital that supplies get into the hospitals,” reports RTE.
“The doctors there and the entire nurses and and medical staff are performing heroics and we want an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We want a sufficiency of aid to get into Gaza as quickly as possible. It’s a humane thing to do. And we certainly believe that should be accelerated in terms of a sufficiency of aid getting in as quickly as possible,” reports RTE.
The current fighting began on October 7, when Hamas fighters crossed the Gaza border into Israel, launching an offensive that killed at least 1,400 people, most of them civilians, in the deadliest attack on Israeli soil since the state’s establishment in 1948.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “fight until victory” in Gaza, signalling that his military will not stop bombing and the expected attack on the enclave. His comments came after Hamas released two American hostages.
The Tanaiste welcomed Hamas’ release of the American hostages, calling it a “first step.”
“I think all hostages should be freed,” he said, reports RTE.
“It’s inhumane and unconscionable that people should be held hostage, given the trauma that they went through following the attack by Hamas. Two of our abductees are at home. We are not giving up on the effort to return all abducted and missing people,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement released late last night,” reports RTE.
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