UN Secretary General António Guterres on Friday at the Rafah crossing, the only border crossing into Gaza not under Israel’s control, where he called for the immediate sending of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Gaza.
Guterres stated that access of aid to the enclave is “absolutely essential” and that this “humanitarian operation is not normal,” but rather an “urgent” operation to support these people who are “in a state of war.”
António Guterres is in Rafah for a short visit. The UN Secretary General arrived in Cairo on Thursday, where he met with Egyptian authorities.
On Saturday he will take part in an international summit organized by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to deal with the crisis of violence in the region, which began on October 7 with the terrorist attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Israeli territory.
Guterres gave a short speech this Friday in front of the Rafah border crossing, which is still closed and under repair, and to several dozen Egyptian humanitarian workers waiting for the border to open.
Guterres noted that the UN is “working to ensure that trucks arrive as quickly as possible, with as much assistance as possible” to the population in need, while emphasizing the need “to resolve this situation as quickly as possible”.
“It’s impossible to be here without being heartbroken. There are two million people going through difficulties, without food, without medicine. They need everything. On this side we have trucks that have everything they need. These trucks are not just trucks, but they are what separates life from death, we must pass as many of them as possible”said the UN Secretary General.
The Portuguese official stressed that there is an agreement between Israel, Egypt and the UN on the access of aid, “with a series of conditions”, and stressed that his organization is trying “that emergency vehicles can arrive every day”.
After his short speech, Guterres returned to Al-Arish airport, closest to Rafah and where planes carrying Gaza aid have been arriving for days.
So far, no humanitarian aid has reached the Gaza Strip and scores of trucks are waiting in Rafah to enter the Palestinian enclave.
International humanitarian aid will not reach the Gaza Strip before Saturday, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Friday.
“We are in extensive and advanced negotiations with all parties involved to ensure that a relief operation in Gaza begins as soon as possible.”said Griffiths, quoted by a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva.
“A first delivery should start tomorrow [sábado] or close”said Griffiths.
When questioned during the regular UN press conference in Geneva, spokesman Jens Laerke explained that he could not be more precise about the opening of the Rafah crossing, on the Egypt-Gaza border, the only point of entry into Palestinian territory. controlled by Israel.
Laerke reaffirmed “the hope that deliveries can begin as soon as possible, in a safe, sustainable manner and that they can be scaled up.”
Martin Griffiths and UN Secretary General António Guterres are in Egypt to negotiate access details, mainly with the Egyptian authorities.
Israel has indicated that it accepts the entry of strictly humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, but has not yet responded to the urgent request from the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to also allow the entry of fuel for hospital generators or desalination companies. and bakeries.
Humanitarian aid convoys – which have been waiting for days at the Egyptian border to enter the Gaza Strip, home to 2.4 million Palestinians – are being blocked in Rafah.
Cement blocks placed by the Egyptians after Israel bombed the Gaza border were removed on Friday, an Egyptian security source told the AFP news agency on Friday, suggesting the opening is imminent.
More than 1,400 people were killed in an attack by the Islamist movement Hamas on October 7 on Israeli territory.
According to the Israeli military, approximately 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed during the counter-offensive that allowed Israel to regain control of the attacked areas.
According to the latest report from local authorities, more than 3,700 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, have been killed in bombings by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
Source: DN
