UPDATE - Humanitarian cease-fire needed in Gaza: UN chief

ADDS MORE REMARKS BY UN CHIEF

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said a humanitarian cease-fire is needed in the Gaza Strip, even as efforts to call for such a cease-fire in the UN Security Council again fell short.

"I do believe that we need a humanitarian cease-fire … but of course, we are favorable to any pause that can lead to improvements in humanitarian aid and to the exchange of prisoners," Guterres told reporters.

His remarks came on the heels of the UN Security Council passing a resolution calling for "urgent steps" to immediately allow "safe, unhindered, and expanded" humanitarian access to besieged Gaza, but lacking any call for a cease-fire, due to the US voting such language down.

After several days of intense negotiations and nail-biting delays, the resolution submitted by the United Arab Emirates passed by a vote of 13-0, with the US and Russia – both permanent council members – abstaining.

"Today, you can see always glasses half-full or half empty,” Guterres added. “I hope that today's resolution will make people understand that a humanitarian cease-fire is indeed something that is needed if we want humanitarian aid to be effectively delivered.”

The US has already blocked resolutions calling for a cease-fire, to the evident frustration of many countries worldwide, including some of its allies on the Security Council.

- 'Nowhere in Gaza is safe'

On the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, Guterres said Israel's way of conducting warfare is "creating massive obstacles" to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza.

"An effective aid operation in Gaza requires security; staff who can work in safety; logistical capacity; and the resumption of commercial activity," he added.

The "intense Israeli bombardment and active combat" in densely populated urban areas throughout Gaza threaten the lives of civilians and humanitarian aid workers alike, Guterres said.

"We waited 71 days for Israel finally to allow aid to enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing. The crossing was then hit while aid trucks were in the area," he added.

Reiterating that "nowhere is safe in Gaza," he also underlined the health care system in Gaza is "on its knees" as hospitals in the north are barely operational.

Since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, Israel has let in only a trickle of the aid needed for the strip, which has a population of some 2 million people.

Guterres also stressed that a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine is the only path to sustainable peace.

Since Oct. 7, the Israeli army has been waging a destructive war on Gaza, resulting in 20,057 deaths and 53,320 wounded so far, most of them children and women. This has caused immense damage to infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to Palestinian and international sources.