According to CNN, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres claimed that Gaza was “becoming a graveyard for children.” Reporters in New York were told by Guterres that the situation in Gaza was more than just a humanitarian one. This is a human crisis.” The necessity of a ceasefire is growing “more urgent with every passing hour,” he continued. “There is an immediate and fundamental responsibility for the parties involved in the conflict, as well as the international community, to cease this inhumane collective suffering and significantly increase humanitarian aid to Gaza,” he declared.
The UN chief said 89 staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began a month ago.
More UN aid workers “have been killed in recent weeks than in any comparable period in the history of our organisation,” he wrote on X on Monday night.
“I join in the mourning of 89 of our @UNRWA colleagues who have been killed in Gaza–many of them with members of their family,” he added, as per CNN.
UNRWA on Tuesday said that at least 26 members had been injured.
“We are beyond devastated. Our colleagues will be greatly missed, and they will not be forgotten. We share this grief with each other and with the families,” the agency said on X.
The UN Secretary-General’s comments come four weeks after Israel declared war on Hamas, following the terrorist organisation’s October 7 attack that killed 1,400 people in Israel and saw about 240 others kidnapped.