UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this Monday that the “nightmare” in Gaza is a “crisis of humanity” where “no one is safe,” noting that more journalists have been killed in four weeks than in any other conflict in the last 30 years. years.
Speaking to the press at United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, Guterres said the Gaza Strip was becoming a “graveyard for children” and said he was “deeply concerned” by the “clear violations of international humanitarian law” on the ground.
“The intensifying conflict is shaking the world, the region and, most tragically, destroying so many innocent lives. IDF ground operations and continuous bombing attacks target civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN sites. – including shelters. Nobody is safe,” he said.
In addition to the record number of journalists killed in four weeks, the secretary-general also said that more United Nations aid workers had been killed than in any comparable period in the organization’s history.
At the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), 88 staff have been killed since the start of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip enclave.
“Let me be clear: no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law,” he stressed, reiterating his “full condemnation of the heinous terrorist acts committed by Hamas” on October 7 and reiterating calls for immediate, unconditional release and security . hostages held in Gaza.
“Nothing can justify the deliberate torture, death, injury and abduction of civilians. The protection of civilians must be of paramount importance,” he stressed.
“The impending disaster makes the need for a humanitarian ceasefire more and more urgent every hour,” the former Prime Minister of Portugal emphasized.