UN envoys call for end to Israel-Hamas war during trip to Gaza border

As they crossed the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt on Monday to reach the Rafah crossing, the only point of entry for aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave, U.N. Security Council envoys talked of unspeakable suffering and called for an end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

When reporters asked China’s UN representative Zhang Jun what message he would like to send to countries that are against a ceasefire in Gaza, his response was straightforward: “Enough is enough.”

As conditions worsen for Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants, most UN member nations are in favour of an immediate and permanent truce between Israel and the terrorist Palestinian organisation Hamas.

A proposed Security Council demand for an immediate ceasefire was vetoed last week by the United States, which supports Israel, as Israeli tanks and troops continued their invasion of Gaza, which has resulted in the displacement of the majority of the population and the deaths of over 18,000 people.

Only days after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a warning that hundreds of people in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave were “simply starving,” twelve envoys from the U.N. Security Council participated in the trip to Rafah, which was sponsored by the United Arab Emirates.

They flew to the town of Al-Arish, where the United Nations organisation for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, briefed them on the situation in Gaza, and then they travelled 30 miles (48 km) to Rafah.

Israel launched a ground offensive, imposed a siege, and attacked Gaza both aerially and on land in reprisal for an attack by Hamas on October 7 that it claims resulted in 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of 240 persons. According to Gaza’s health authorities, Israeli attacks have resulted in around 18,000 deaths and 49,500 injuries.

The 2.3 million Palestinians living in the Palestinian enclave have been forced from their homes for the most part.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, spoke of a “implosion of civil order” in which days-starved Gazans set fire to trucks and ransacked relief distribution sites in an attempt to get supplies for their family.

The Rafah crossing has allowed a small amount of fuel and humanitarian goods to enter Gaza, but relief workers claim this has not even come close to meeting the people’s most basic requirements.

A resolution written by the UAE that requires the warring parties to “allow the use of all land, sea, and air routes to and throughout” Gaza for humanitarian relief is being negotiated by the 15-member Security Council.

In the Gaza Strip, it would also set up a monitoring system for aid administered by the UN. When the proposed resolution could be put to a vote remained unclear.

(With agency inputs)

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