2023-10-19 19:14:18
AA / Le Cairo / Hamdi Yilmaz
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that a ceasefire was an essential condition to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip “in complete safety.”
This emerged from a press conference held by Guterres with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, monitored by Anadolu, as part of an indefinite visit by the UN Secretary-General in Cairo, to hold consultations with officials on developments in the Middle East region.
Guterres said at the start of his intervention on the situation in the Gaza Strip: “I am in the Middle East on a humanitarian mission at a time of profound crisis – a crisis without precedent in the region for decades.”
“I am in Egypt to attend the UN preparations, so that I can provide massive support to the people of Gaza,” he added.
Guterres affirmed that “A humanitarian ceasefire is also an essential part of this effort” to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The UN Secretary-General stressed that “In this effort to save lives, El Arish airport and the Rafah terminal are not only essential, they are our only hope […]. Through its actions and openness, Egypt is showing how it is a pillar of multilateral cooperation – and a key element in helping to defuse tensions and alleviate colossal human pain and suffering.”
He stressed the need to respect international humanitarian law, noting that “the protection of civilians is also essential and that any attack once morest a hospital, a school or UN premises is prohibited by international law.”
Guterres called on Hamas to “immediately release Israeli prisoners” and called on “all parties to respect the principles of international law.”
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to transport humanitarian aid from Egypt to the Gaza Strip via the closed Rafah border crossing, for the first time following the start of operation “Al-Aqsa Flood”.
Egypt accuses Israel of obstructing the passage of humanitarian aid from several countries through the Rafah crossing, following repeatedly targeting the Palestinian side of the border crossing.
For the thirteenth consecutive day, the Israeli army continues to shell Gaza, killing more than 3,500 Palestinians, including more than a thousand children, and injuring more than 12,000 people, while continuing to cut off water supplies, food, medicine and electricity to the Gaza Strip, which is inhabited by around 2.3 million Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
From another perspective, that more than 1,300 Israelis died and 4,629 others injured, according to official sources, in the clashes once morest the Hamas movement and Palestinian factions in Gaza, which also captured 200 to 250 Israelis, including high-ranking military personnel. Hamas would like to exchange the captured Israelis with more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, held in Israeli jails.
* Translated from Arabic by Mounir Bennour.
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