Six months after war broke out, UN chief asks for ‘qualitative leap’ in Gaza aid

Children in the Gaza Strip are dying of hunger and dehydration and a “giant leap” in providing life-saving aid is urgently needed, the United Nations chief warned on Friday.

“When the door to aid closes, the door to hunger opens,” Antonio Guterres told reporters.

He said the war between Israel and Hamas was approaching the six-month mark on Sunday and that its “speed, scale and inhuman brutality” made it a dangerous time for civilians, aid workers, journalists and medical staff. Talk about one of the deadliest conflicts.

“Six months on, we are on the brink of mass starvation, regional fires and a complete loss of faith in global standards and norms,” ​​he said. “It’s time to step back from the brink – to silence the guns, alleviate the horrific suffering, and stop potential famine before it’s too late.”

He said Israel had pledged to allow a “significant increase” in the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza following Monday’s deadly attack on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy.

“I sincerely hope that these declared intentions can be realized effectively and quickly, because the situation in Gaza is absolutely desperate,” he said.

Israel said on Friday it would temporarily open the Erez crossing into Gaza and allow aid to be processed at the port of Ashdod – something humanitarians have been demanding for months.

The UN Secretary-General also expressed concern about reports that Israel used artificial intelligence to identify targets, causing large numbers of civilian casualties.

“No part of a life or death decision that affects an entire family should be entrusted to the cold calculation of an algorithm,” he said.

The Secretary-General reiterated his condemnation of the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7 and called for the unconditional release of all hostages still held by Hamas and other armed groups.

The U.N. Security Council met on Friday in an emergency meeting with Algeria, Guyana, Slovenia and Switzerland to discuss the risk of famine and attacks on aid workers in the Gaza Strip. They will receive briefings from officials from the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs and Janti Soeripto, CEO of Save the Children.