Calls are growing around the world to stop the escalation in Gaza, at a time when Arab countries have warned of the dangers of the ground attack that Israel intends to launch against Hamas.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday he was surprised by Israel’s escalation of bombing of Gaza and repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds to deliver aid.
“I have been encouraged in recent days by what appears to be a growing consensus in the international community… on the need for at least a humanitarian truce in the fighting,” Guterres added in a statement.
He continued: “Unfortunately, instead of a truce, I was surprised by an unprecedented escalation of bombings and their devastating effects, which undermine the above-mentioned humanitarian objectives.”
In turn, European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell called for a “truce in hostilities” in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Strip after a night of violent Israeli bombing.
Borrell said on social media: “Gaza is completely cut off from the world and isolated, while concentrated bombing continues. UNRWA warns of the desperate situation of the people of Gaza, without electricity, food or water.”
He added: “A large number of civilians were killed, including children. This is against international humanitarian law.” He underlined: “There is an urgent need for a truce in hostilities to allow humanitarian aid to arrive.”
In a related context, diplomats said the UAE asked the United Nations Security Council on Saturday to meet “as soon as possible” in the wake of the expansion of Israeli ground operations in Gaza and the cutting of communications networks, according to Reuters.
The diplomats added that the 15-member council could meet soon, perhaps tomorrow, Sunday, and that the UAE has asked the UN emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, and the UN agency’s commissioner general for Palestinian Refugee Relief and Employment (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, to provide a briefing.
In turn, Egypt said that “Israeli obstacles”, including truck inspection procedures, prevent the immediate delivery of aid from Egypt to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing.
The spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that “the condition is that the buses are searched at the Israeli Nitsana crossing, opposite the Egyptian Al-Awja crossing, and then the buses head to the Rafah crossing in a journey that requires a distance of 100 kilometers before entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, which creates bureaucratic burdens and obstacles.” “The arrival of this aid has been significantly delayed.”
Saudi Arabia had previously condemned ground operations carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, warning against exposing Palestinian civilians to “further danger”, as the war between Israel and Hamas enters its fourth week.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: “While the Kingdom condemns and denounces any ground operation conducted by Israel due to the threat to the lives of Palestinian civilians and their exposure to further dangers and inhumane conditions, it indicates that it puts guard against the danger of continuing to commit these blatant and unjustified violations that violate international law. “Right to the brotherly Palestinian people.”
The Saudi warning, followed by a similar warning from the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Sultan of Oman, came a day after the Israeli military announced “the expansion of its ground operations” and carried out attacks of unprecedented intensity since the beginning of the war.
The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jassem Al-Budaiwi, condemned the Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement it warned of the dangers of any ground operations conducted by Israeli forces “and their humanitarian and security repercussions on Palestinian civilians.”
For its part, the Sultanate of Oman stated that “the continued dangerous escalation and the policy of collective punishment… constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity”, warning of the “consequences of military ground operations (…) which portend serious catastrophic effects on the region and the world and on the possibilities of achieving peace and stability”.
Relief agencies say a humanitarian catastrophe is worsening in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million and is under a comprehensive Israeli siege.
Health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave said 7,650 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israeli bombing began.
Gaza has been witnessing an almost total communications blackout since Friday evening and the Palestinian Red Crescent holds Israel responsible for this.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the disruption prevents the arrival of ambulances and the evacuation of patients and deprives people of safe shelter.
Israel has pledged to eliminate the Hamas movement that rules Gaza, saying it killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 220 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack.