UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “welcomed” the temporary truce deal reached hours ago between Israel and Hamas, but said it was not enough, with his spokesperson emphasizing that he stands for a humanitarian ceasefire in besieged Gaza.
“I welcome the agreement reached by Israel and Hamas. It’s an important step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done,” the UN chief said in a statement read out at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
For weeks Guterres has been advocating for an indefinite ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, in line with most of the international community, but it has been opposed by Israel and its ally the United States, which say that such a truce would serve to rearm Hamas.
“The secretary-general is still pushing for a ceasefire” Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in response to questions.
In his statement, Guterres added that the UN “will mobilize all its capacities to support the implementation & maximize positive impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” which after six weeks of relentless Israeli attacks is in ruins and its 2.3 million population traumatized.
The temporary humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas has been welcomed by the international community, from neighbouring Arab countries to multinational organizations.
It is expected to come into force on Thursday and in a first phase, Hamas will hand over at least 50 hostages, almost all of them women and children, of the more than 240 it seized on Oct. 7, and Israel will release a first batch of 150 Palestinian prisoners.
The agreement includes a temporary truce of at least four days, which may be extended to a maximum of 10, in which the fighting will be completely paused and will involve the entry into the Strip of between 100 and 300 trucks of food and medical aid and fuel.
The top UN official leading efforts to secure a lasting peace in the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, echoed the secretary-general’s comments and also welcomed the announced 96-hour “humanitarian pause” in war-shattered Gaza.
“This pause must be used to its fullest extent to facilitate the release of hostages and alleviate the dire needs of Palestinians in Gaza.”
The development comes as UN humanitarians reiterated that they remain ready to seize the opportunity to ramp up lifesaving aid to the enclave.
Following the four-day temporary truce announcement the UN World Health Organization (WHO) issued fresh calls for safe, unimpeded humanitarian access in the Strip.
“The fighting needs to stop so that we can quickly scale up our response,” said Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. “We cannot keep providing drops of aid in Gaza in an ocean of need.”
Leave a Comment