UN chief lauds movement of aid into Gaza, but asks for ‘much, much more’

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on the international community to double down on efforts to provide humanitarian aid for Gaza on Saturday, amid Israel’s war with Hamas.

The first aid convoys entered Gaza early Saturday after days of negotiations between Egypt, the U.S. and Israel. Israeli strikes had previously kept Gaza’s only border with Egypt closed.

“Yesterday I went to the Rafah border crossing. There I saw a paradox — a humanitarian catastrophe playing out in real time,” Guterres said at a Cairo summit advocating for an end of the war. “Full trucks on one side, empty stomachs on the other.”

“Those trucks need to move as quickly as possible in a massive, sustained and safe way from Egypt into Gaza,” he said.

The conflict started earlier this month after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns near Gaza, killing over 1,400 people, mostly civilians. Responding Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed over 4,100 people, including over 1,700 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The Biden administration has strongly backed Israel in the conflict. President Biden announced a $100 million humanitarian aid package for Gaza civilians earlier this week, but Guterres said that should only be the beginning.

“The people of Gaza need a commitment for much, much more — a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed,” he said. “We are working nonstop with all parties that are relevant to make it happen.”

Gaza is running out of food, fuel and power, making life difficult for the over 2 million people who live in the territory amid continuous airstrikes from the Israeli military. On Friday, Guterres said the aid convoys are “the difference between life and death for the people.”

In the speech Saturday, Guterres denounced the violence of Hamas, but stuck by the rights of civilians in Gaza and advocated for independent Palestinian governance in the region. 

“The grievances of the Palestinian people are legitimate and long,” Guterres said. “We cannot and must not ignore the wider context for these tragic events: the long-standing conflict and 56 years of occupation with no end in sight.”

“But nothing can justify the reprehensible assault by Hamas that terrorized Israeli civilians,” he continued. “And those abhorrent attacks can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

The U.N. chief said international humanity law “must be upheld.”

“That includes protecting civilians and not attacking hospitals, schools and UN premises that are currently sheltering half a million people,” Guterres added.