UN chief calls for immediate ceasefire in Israeli-Palestinian conflict | Antonio Guterres News

Fighting in the Middle East must be stopped immediately, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday, calling on Israel and the Palestinians to call for an immediate ceasefire and launch a full humanitarian appeal for funding.

“In the last ten days, there has been an increase in deadly violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly Gaza, and in Israel, which has been dangerous and horrific,” Guterres said at a meeting called by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab Group.

“I am extremely impressed with the air and artillery bombardment by Israeli defense forces in Gaza,” he added.

Reported that nine members of a family were killed in the Al-Shati refugee camp, “terrified”, Guterres also stressed: “If there is hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza.”

He also said he was deeply concerned about the destruction of media offices and the killing of a journalist in Gaza, stressing that journalists have the right to do their job.

According to the UN, the bombing killed 208 Palestinians, including 60 children, and injured thousands more. Hamas’ rocket fire on Israel has left 12 dead, including two children, and injured hundreds.

Enemies have caused serious damage to Gaza’s critical infrastructure, including roads and power lines, Guterres said. The passages have been closed and a shortage of electricity is affecting the water supply. They have destroyed hundreds of homes. The airstrikes have also damaged several hospitals, which were already flooded with a coronavirus pandemic.

More than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have fled their homes and are seeking refuge in the schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA), where access to water and food is limited, Guterres said.

The aid agencies must be able to carry out their mission, the UN General Emergency Response Fund and the Humanitarian Coordinator plan to send $ 14 million to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“Access to humanitarian goods is key. Attacks by militant groups in areas around the crossings are unacceptable, ”the UN chief stressed.

Israel called on Gaza to allow unhindered access to humanitarian aid (including food, fuel and medicine) and expressed concern over the rockets fired from Gaza into Tel Aviv and its neighborhoods and Ben Gurion Airport. These rockets have claimed civilian lives and injured hundreds.

“Wars also have rules,” the secretary-general stressed, adding: “Civilians must be protected. Non-discriminatory attacks and attacks on civilians and civilian property are in violation of the laws of war.”

“There is no justification, including anti-terrorism or self-defense, for the parties to the conflict to cease to have obligations under international humanitarian law,” Guterres added.

He called on the Israeli authorities to comply with the laws governing armed conflict, including the proportional use of force, and to ensure that they have the utmost measures to conduct military operations.

He also called on Hamas and other armed groups to stop rockets and mortars from uninhabited civilian neighborhoods with indiscriminate firing on Israeli civilian population centers, in clear violation of international humanitarian law. Guterres stressed that high-density areas should not be used for military purposes.

He also expressed deep concern among Israeli security forces and Palestinians throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over the continuation of violent clashes, and called on Israel to halt the demolition and eviction of Palestinian occupied territory.

Guterres said he is working with Egypt, Jordan and Qatar to stop violence on all sides and is fighting with all parties to the conflict, including Hamas, to end the enemy.

The United Nations supports the two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, with Jerusalem being the capital of Israel and Palestine.