UN chief calls for Israeli 'ironclad commitment' for free humanitarian aid access to Gaza

• Published date: 23 March 2024
• Author: EVE YOUNG
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

"Nothing justifies the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7th – and nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he said in a press statement. Now more than ever, it is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire

At the crossing, Guterres renewed pleas for a ceasefire and called for Israel to give an "ironclad commitment" to unfettered access to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza. He also called for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Strip.

"In the Ramadan spirit of compassion, it's time for the immediate release of all hostages," he said.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to the visit by saying that the UN "has become an antisemitic and anti-Israel body that shelters and emboldens terror."

Katz said on X that Guterres "stood today on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing and blamed Israel for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, without condemning in any way the Hamas-ISIS terrorists who plunder humanitarian aid, without condemning UNRWA that cooperates with terrorists."

UN Gaza aid efforts

Guterres said that the UN will continue to work with Egypt to "streamline" the flow of aid into Gaza.

"Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all. A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other," he said. "That is more than tragic. It is a moral outrage."

Before stopping at the border, the UN head met in El Arish with regional governor Mohamed Shousha who told him some 7,000 trucks with humanitarian aid were waiting in North Sinai to deliver aid to Gaza, but that Israeli inspection procedures were holding them up.

The visit by Guterres comes...