United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres used a rarely used UN article to call for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war as the Palestinian territories face “a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system.”
Guterres warned that “there is no safe place in Gaza” in a letter to the president of the UN Security Council as the IDF continued to attack the Palestinian enclave with airstrikes.
He wrote the hasty note, using Article 99 in Chapter XV of the UN Charter which states the UN “may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in its opinion, may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
Guterres warned that the ongoing fighting had killed 16,200 – including 15,000 in Gaza with 40% of them children – and forcibly displaced 80% of Gaza’s 2.2 million people.
Guterres warned that “there is no safe place in Gaza” as the ongoing war has forcibly displaced 80% of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents. ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Guterres said it was now impossible to get meaningful aid to Gaza and called for a humanitarian ceasefire. Anadolu via Getty Images
There is nowhere to hide with hospitals turned into battlegrounds and UNRWA facilities suffering from “overcrowded, undignified and unsanitary conditions,” according to the secretary-general.
“In the midst of constant bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces, and without protection or the essentials of survival, I expect civil order to break down completely soon due to the desperation of the situation, making even limited humanitarian assistance impossible,” Guterres wrote.
He emphasized the urgency of the situation with more lives and international peace at stake.
“This situation is deteriorating into a catastrophe with irreversible implications for the Palestinian people as a whole and for peace and security in the region,” he said in the letter. “Such an outcome must be avoided at all costs.”
About 15,000 Gazans – 40% of whom are children – have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since October 7. AP “Civilians must be spared greater harm,” Guterres said. PRESIDENCIA CUBA/AFP via Getty Images
Guterres also acknowledged the brutality of the October 7 Hamas attack as well as the “appalling” accounts of sexual violence and the urgent need to free the remaining 130 hostages held by the terror group.
He noted that the relentless bombardment of Gaza, however, had made “meaningful” humanitarian operations impossible in the region.
“The international community has a responsibility to use all its influence to prevent further escalation and end this crisis,” Guterres wrote. “I urge the members of the Security Council to press ahead to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. I repeat my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. This is urgent. Civilians must be spared greater harm.”
He said the ceasefire would allow humanitarian aid to be restored throughout the Gaza Strip.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
