Gaza starvation moral outrage, allow free access to aid: UN chief

Egypt (Rafah Crossing), March 23

A long line of blocked relief trucks on Egypt’s side of the border with the Gaza Strip where people face starvation is a moral outrage, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a visit to the Rafah crossing on Saturday.

It was time for Israel to give an “ironclad commitment” for unfettered access to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza, said Guterres, who also called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The UN would continue to work with Egypt to “streamline” the flow of aid into Gaza, he told reporters in front of the gate of the Rafah crossing, an entry point for aid.

“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. That is more than tragic. It is a moral outrage,” he said.

The visit by Guterres comes as Israel faces global pressure to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than five months of war between Israel and Hamas.

Israel is threatening to launch a major military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, just over the border from Egypt, despite international appeals against such an attack.

A majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are taking shelter around Rafah. Though conditions are worse in the north of the strip, the plight of civilians across the territory has deteriorated sharply.

Before his stop at the border, where he met UN humanitarian workers, Guterres landed in Al Arish in Egypt’s northern Sinai, where much of the international relief for Gaza is delivered and stockpiled.

Receiving him, regional governor Mohamed Shusha said some 7,000 trucks were waiting in North Sinai to deliver aid to Gaza, but that inspection procedures demanded by Israel had held up the flow of relief. Guterres also visited a hospital in Al Arish where Palestinians evacuated from Gaza are receiving treatment. — Reuters

Hunger spreads inside Palestinian enclave

• The UN would continue to work with Egypt to “streamline” the flow of aid into Gaza, says Guterres.
• Many Gazans have sought refuge close to the border.
• Before his stop at the border, where he met UN humanitarian workers, Guterres landed in Al Arish in Egypt’s northern Sinai.
• Around 7,000 trucks waiting in North Sinai to deliver aid to Gaza.