United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres invoked a rarely used UN article to call for a permanent ceasefire in the war between Israel and Gaza, as the Palestinian territory faces “a serious risk of collapse of the humanitarian system.” ”.
Guterres warned that “nowhere is safe in Gaza” in a letter to the president of the UN Security Council as the IDF continues to attack the Palestinian enclave with airstrikes.
He wrote the urgent note, using Article 99 of Chapter XV of the UN Charter, which states that the UN “may draw the attention of the Security Council to any matter which, in its opinion, may threaten the maintenance of peace and international security.
Guterres warned that the ongoing battle has already killed 16,200 people (including 15,000 in Gaza, 40% of whom are children) and forcibly displaced 80% of Gaza’s 2.2 million people.
Guterres warned that “nowhere is safe in Gaza” as the ongoing war has forcibly displaced 80% of Gaza’s 2.2 million people. ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Guterres said it is now impossible to bring meaningful aid to Gaza and called for a humanitarian ceasefire. Anadolu via Getty Images
According to the Secretary-General, there is nowhere left to hide, as hospitals are becoming battlefields and UNRWA facilities suffer from “overcrowded, undignified and unhygienic conditions.”
“Amidst constant shelling by the Israel Defense Forces, and without shelter or the essentials for survival, I expect that public order will soon completely collapse due to the desperate conditions, making even limited humanitarian assistance impossible,” Guterres wrote.
It highlighted the desperate urgency of the situation, with many more lives and international peace at risk.
“The situation is rapidly deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for the Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region,” he said in the letter. “Such a result must be avoided at all costs.”
Approximately 15,000 Gazans (40% of whom are children) have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since October 7. AP “Civilians must be spared further harm,” Guterres said. CUBA PRESIDENCY/AFP via Getty Images
Guterres also acknowledged the atrocities of the October 7 Hamas attack, as well as the “horrific” accounts of sexual violence and the immediate need to release the remaining 130 hostages held by the terrorist group.
However, he noted that the relentless bombing of Gaza has made it impossible for “meaningful” humanitarian operations to be carried out in the territory.
“The international community has a responsibility to use all its influence to prevent further escalation and end this crisis,” Guterres wrote. “I urge members of the Security Council to put pressure on us to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. I reiterate my call for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. This is urgent. “The civilian population must avoid suffering further damage.”
He said a ceasefire would allow humanitarian assistance to be restored throughout the Gaza Strip.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn