UN chief urges boost in humanitarian assistance amid intense Gaza fighting

AFP | Jerusalem     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Heavy fighting raged yesterday in the Israel-Hamas war as UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a surge of aid into the besieged territory he said was stalked by “horror and starvation”.

Talks have been held in Qatar towards a truce and hostage release deal but the heads of the CIA and Mossad have left Doha for consultations with their governments, an informed source told AFP.

Air and artillery strikes again rained down on Gaza where Israel has vowed to launch its planned ground offensive against Hamas fighters in the crowded far southern city of Rafah, despite rising global concern and objections from the United States.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said yesterday that another 84 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours, raising the total death toll in the territory during nearly six months of war to 32,226.

Palestinian children badly wounded in the latest bombardment were rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings and rushed for urgent medical care to Al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. Guterres, on a visit to Egypt, urged an end to the “non-stop nightmare” endured by Gaza’s 2.4 million people since Hamas sparked the territory’s worst ever war with its October 7 attack on Israel.

“Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it,” the United Nations secretary-general said. “The whole world recognises that it’s past time to silence the guns and ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

Threat of famine As UN and other aid agencies have warned of the threat of famine in Gaza, Guterres urged Israel to allow in more humanitarian aid via the Rafah border crossing where trucks were queued up.

Israel’s military blasted back on social media, saying the UN should scale up its logistics and “stop blaming Israel for its own failures.” Combat has flared for almost a week in and around Gaza’s biggest hospital complex, Gaza City’s Al-Shifa, which has been a refuge for displaced people and where Israel says Palestinian militants have been hiding out.

The Hamas government media office said 190 people had been killed in the Al-Shifa operation, and 30 nearby buildings destroyed.