UN chief calls for humanitarian ceasefire as Israel continues pounding Gaza

The UN chief Antonio Guterres has demanded for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as the war in the region continues to take more lives. He stressed that the attacks by Hamas can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people…

The United Nations’ Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has called for a “humanitarian ceasefire ” in the war between Israel and Hamas fighters that has devastated much of Gaza, demanding “action to end this godawful nightmare”.

Speaking at a Cairo summit, the UN chief said the Palestinian enclave of 2.4 million people was living through “a humanitarian catastrophe” with thousands dead and over a million residents displaced as the fighting continues to take destructive trends.

Mr. Guterres stressed that “the grievances of the Palestinian people are legitimate and long” after “56 years of occupation with no end in sight” but stressed that “nothing can justify the reprehensible assault by Hamas that terrorised Israeli civilians”.

He then stressed that “those abhorrent attacks can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

On his part, Jordan’s King Abdullah II demanded for “an immediate end to the war on Gaza ” and critisised what he labelled “global silence” on Palestinian death and suffering.

He added that “The message the Arab world is hearing is loud and clear: Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones. Our lives matter less than other lives,” he said.

Meanwhile Cairo and Amman have rejected appeals for significant numbers of refugees to enter Egypt from Gaza, saying that new “forced displacement” of Palestinians would result in the “eradication of the Palestinian cause.”

The latest war has killed more than 1,400 Israelis while Palestinian officials say more than 4,300 have been killed in Gaza since the clashes broke out almost two weeks ago.