UN chief urges ceasefire to end Gaza’s ‘godawful nightmare’

UN chief urges ceasefire to end Gaza’s ‘godawful nightmare’

UN chief Antonio Guterres has pleaded for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas, demanding global “action to end this god-awful nightmare”.

Addressing a peace summit in Cairo as the war raged into its third week, Mr Guterres said the Palestinian enclave of 2.4 million people was living through “a humanitarian catastrophe” with thousands dead and more than a million people displaced.

His remarks came just hours after a first contingent of aid trucks rumbled into southern Gaza, which Mr Guterres said needed to be rapidly scaled up, with “much more” help sent through.

The Palestinians need “a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed”, he told the Cairo “Summit for Peace” which was attended by many Arab leaders.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has echoed Mr Guterres, saying the Government does not believe that 20 trucks of food and medical supplies is enough to address the needs of people in Gaza.

He also called for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, adding that aid to Gaza needed to be accelerated and the quantity needed to be increased.

“I don’t think 20 trucks is enough,” Mr Martin told RTÉ News.

“We know the United Nations Refugee Agency can deal with and disperse about 100 trucks per day.

“We trust the United Nations agencies and we know the situation on the ground is dire. We know that from UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees); we know that from the World Health Organisation and it is vital that supplies get into the hospitals.

“The doctors there and the entire nurses and and medical staff are performing heroics and we want an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We want a sufficiency of aid to get into Gaza as quickly as possible.

“It’s a humane thing to do. And we certainly believe that should be accelerated in terms of a sufficiency of aid getting in as quickly as possible.”

The opening of the supply route came after days of intense negotiations and an agreement reached by US President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during Mr Biden’s visit to Israel earlier this week.

Irish diplomats are continuing with efforts to help between 35 and 40 people in Gaza, who have dual or full Irish citizenship, to cross into Egypt.

Hopes have been raised that might be possible, in the coming days or weeks.

Mr Martin was speaking after the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware that a number of trucks carrying humanitarian aid had been able to cross from Egypt into Gaza this morning.

“We are closely monitoring the situation at the Rafah border crossing through our embassies in Cairo, Tel Aviv and our representative office in Ramallah, and together with our EU and international partners,” the department said in a statement.

“At this time there is no official confirmation from the relevant authorities that the Rafah border crossing is open to allow [Irish] citizens to cross from Gaza into Egypt.

“We are in ongoing contact with Irish citizens in Gaza and are keeping them informed of the latest information as it becomes available.”

However, UN Secretary General Mr Guterres said yesterday that getting aid into Gaza should not be tied to efforts to get people out of the strip.

The current fighting began on 7 October when Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel, launching an attack that has killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in the deadliest attack on Israeli soil since the state was founded in 1948.

Israel has hit back with a relentless bombing campaign, killing more than 4,100 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Although diplomatic efforts to end the violence have made little headway, Cairo – historically a key mediator between Hamas and Israel – announced plans to hold the summit a week into the war, urging “restraint” and calling for a return to peace talks, which have been frozen for years.

Diplomatic efforts have so far focused on getting humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave where Israel has imposed a total siege, cutting off supplies of water, electricity, fuel and food.

Israel vows to ‘fight until victory’ as hostages freed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “fight until victory” in Gaza, signaling no pause in his military’s bombardment and expected invasion of the enclave. His comments come after Hamas released two US hostages.

The militant group Hamas released US mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan who were kidnapped in its attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

They were the first hostages confirmed by both sides in the conflict to be freed since Hamas gunmen entered into Israel, killing 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and taking around 200 hostages.

The Tánaiste welcomed the freeing of the US hostages by Hamas, describing it as “a first step”.

“I think all hostages should be freed,” he said.

“It’s inhumane and unconscionable that people should be held hostage, given the trauma that they went through following the attack by Hamas.”

“Two of our abductees are at home. We are not giving up on the effort to return all abducted and missing people,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement released late last night.

“At the same time, we’ll continue to fight until victory,” he added.

Israel has amassed tanks and troops near the perimeter of Gaza for a planned ground invasion.

Its bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 4,137 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, while more than a million have been displaced, according to Palestinian officials.

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking in front of a parliamentary committee, said achieving Israel’s objectives would not be quick or easy.

“We will topple the Hamas organisation. We will destroy its military and governing infrastructure. It’s a phase that will not be easy. It will have a price,” Mr Gallant said.

He added that the subsequent phase would be more drawn out, but was aimed at achieving “a completely different security situation” with no threat to Israel from Gaza.

“It’s not a day, it’s not a week, and unfortunately it’s not a month,” he said.

An image obtained by Reuters after their release, showed the two women surrounded by three Israeli soldiers and holding hands with Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the captives and missing.

In the image, Natalie is wearing jeans and a grey hoodie while Judith was wearing a long blue shirt.

Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing Izz el-Deenal-Qassam Brigades, said the hostages were released in response to Qatari mediation efforts, “for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless”.

But the violence continued.

Israeli aircraft struck six homes in northern Gaza, killing at least eight Palestinians and injuring 45, Palestinian media reported.

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the main Palestinian Christian denomination, said that Israeli forces had struck the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City, where hundreds of Christians and Muslims had sought refuge.

Israel has already told all civilians to evacuate the northern half of Gaza, which includes Gaza City.

Many people have yet to leave saying they fear losing everything and have nowhere safe to go with southern areas also under attack.

Asked if Israel had so far followed the laws of war in its response, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself and make sure Hamas is not able to launch attacks again.

“It’s important that operations be conducted in accordance with international law, humanitarian law, the law of war…There will be plenty of time to make assessments about how these operations were conducted but I can just say from the part of the United States, this continues to be important to us,” he added.

The United Nations humanitarian affairs office said more than 140,000 homes – nearly a third of all homes in Gaza – have been damaged, with nearly 13,000 completely destroyed.

Western leaders have so far mostly offered support to Israel’s campaign against Hamas, although there is mounting unease about the plight of civilians in Gaza.

Many Muslim states, however, have called for an immediate ceasefire, and protests demanding an end to the bombardment were held in cities across the Islamic world yesterday.