UN chief calls for "immediate" Gaza ceasefire and hostage release
Kuwait City, Kuwait - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged an immediate halt to the Israel's war on Gaza, the return of hostages, and a "surge" in humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
"I repeat my call, the world's call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid," Guterres said in a video address to an international donors' conference in Kuwait.
"But a ceasefire will only be the start. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war," he added.
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued on Sunday after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah despite international outcry over its military incursion into eastern areas of the city, effectively shutting a key aid crossing.
"The war in Gaza is causing horrific human suffering, devastating lives, tearing families apart and rendering huge numbers of people homeless, hungry, and traumatized," Guterres said.
His remarks were played at the opening of the conference in Kuwait organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the UN's humanitarian coordination organization OCHA.
On Friday, in Nairobi, the UN head warned Gaza faced an "epic humanitarian disaster" if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.
Since October, Israel has killed more than 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the occupied territory's health ministry.
Cover photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP