Israel / Palestine

The Palestinian people ‘are at grave risk of genocide,’ UN special rapporteurs say. ‘The time for action is now.’

The UN chief on Tuesday said levels of aid allowed into the stricken Gaza Strip are “completely inadequate” to meet the rising needs of civilians trapped there amidst the intensifying fighting. Secretary-General António Guterres also reiterated his call for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and other militant groups.

The crisis sparked by the Hamas terrorist attack and ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip is a "political and humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions” said the UN’s independent human rights expert for the Occupied Palestinian Territory this week.

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a major resolution on the Gaza crisis, calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.”

The EU is to call for “humanitarian corridors and pauses” of the shelling in Gaza to allow food, water and medical supplies to reach Palestinians, according to its latest draft text. An official declaration will be issued after a summit of leaders of the bloc’s 27 members in Brussels on Thursday.

China and Russia on Wednesday vetoed a draft resolution sponsored by the United States, while a second Russian-backed resolution failed to secure sufficient votes in favour, deepening the Security Council’s deadlock over any unified response to address the crisis in Gaza and Israel.

The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday firmly rebuked what he described as the “false” claim by top Israeli diplomats that he had sought to justify the terror attacks of 7 October by Hamas in a speech he delivered to the Security Council. 

Israel has rejected calls from the UN secretary-general, Palestinians and a number of countries for a cease-fire. At the UN Security Council meeting, earlier remarks by UN chief Antonio Guterres on the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel drew a furious Israeli response.

Humanitarians continued to stand ready on Thursday to deliver lifesaving aid to Gaza following reports of an agreement brokered by the United States for 20 aid trucks to enter the enclave from Egypt.

UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland on Wednesday highlighted the need for an inquiry into the strike against a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds, including patients, staff and displaced people seeking shelter.