NEW YORK – Secretary General PBB Antonio Guterres said Israel’s military operation created a “major obstacle” in distributing aid to Gaza.
This was stated after the UN Security Council called for an increase in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian settlements.
The UN Security Council finally passed a resolution urging steps to allow “safe, unimpeded and broad humanitarian access” to Gaza and “conditions for a sustained cessation of hostilities.”
Israel launched airstrikes and artillery shelling across Gaza. The escalation on Friday (12/21/2023) occurred during negotiations in Egypt to agree on a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The Israeli military ordered residents of Al-Bureij in central Gaza to move to the south. This order signals Israel opening a new focus in its ground offensive that has destroyed the northern Gaza region and forced thousands of people to evacuate.
Some residents packed their belongings with donkeys and left. But there are no signs of Al-Bureij residents joining hundreds of thousands of others to leave the area.
“Where should we go? There is no safe place, they ask residents to move to (City) Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, where they bombard day and night,” said Ziad, a medical officer and father of six, in a telephone interview on Saturday (23/12/2023).
Hamas TV medical and media personnel reported Israeli airstrikes destroying a home in the Nusseirat refugee camp, killing three people, including a journalist from the Hamas television station, Aqsa, and three of his relatives.
The death of the journalist adds to the number of journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war, which totals 69 people according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Meanwhile, the resolution was passed after days of negotiations to avoid a second U.S. veto.
The resolution passed is more toned down from the initial draft resolution calling for an immediate halt to the 11-week-old war and weakening Israel’s control over aid delivery. The United States abstained from voting on this resolution.
Washington has repeatedly supported Israel’s invasion of Gaza after Hamas’s sudden attack on October 7. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said the UN Security Council should focus on releasing hostages and not concentrate on “aid mechanisms” because Israel allows “aid deliveries on the required scale.”
Hamas and the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank disagree on this issue. Hamas said the resolution was “not enough” to meet Gaza’s needs and called for an end to “Israeli aggression.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the resolution as a step that can help “end the aggression, ensure the arrival of aid, and protect the Palestinian people.”
The United States and Israel, both vowing to crush Hamas, rejected a ceasefire because they believe it would only allow Hamas to regroup and bolster its weapons.
But the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden increased its criticism of Israel due to the high number of casualties and worsening humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, Israel stepped up its airstrikes and ground operations.
Guterres said Israel’s operation methods “create a major obstacle to the distribution of humanitarian aid” in Gaza. The UN said only 10 percent of the needed aid has been delivered.
Israel said since the outbreak of the war, 5,405 aid trucks carrying food, water, and medicine have entered Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry said the number of deaths from Israel’s attacks on Gaza has reached 20,057 people.
The ministry also reported 53,320 wounded in the Israeli attacks that destroyed most of Gaza and forced most of its population of 2.3 million to flee. Israel said 140 of its soldiers have died since launching the ground offensive on October 20.