Guterres calls on 'silencing the guns' in Gaza for month of Ramadan
2 Min Read
With 2.4 million people enduring a siege by the Israeli army, the UN warned that the population is facing an imminent risk of famine.
-
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a Security Council meeting on maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, at United Nations headquarters. (AP)
As the holy month of Ramadan begins, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for "silencing the guns" in Gaza.
Ramadan celebrates "peace, reconciliation and solidarity," Guterres said. "Yet even though Ramadan has begun – the killing, bombing, and bloodshed continue in Gaza."
He called on the removal of all obstacles to "ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid at the speed and massive scale required."
With 2.4 million people enduring a stifling siege by the Israeli occupation forces, the UN warned that the population was facing an imminent risk of famine. UNOCHA estimates that nearly one-quarter of the total population is one step away from starvation.
When the Israeli occupation forces said they would deliver aid supplies to Gaza's civilians, the endeavor resulted in over a hundred being killed, shot in the head, and run over by tracked vehicles as they fled.
"The eyes of history are watching," Guterres said. "We cannot look away. We must act to avoid more preventable deaths."
"We have witnessed month after month of civilian killing and destruction at a level that is unprecedented in all my years as Secretary-General," he said, adding that aid "is coming in trickles – if it comes at all. International humanitarian law lies in tatters."
A Ramadan ceasefire for Gaza must be implemented immediately, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holy month
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) March 11, 2024
Read more ⤵️https://t.co/VZW3WpOI90 pic.twitter.com/ym15diuszK
Read more: Muslim nations to enter Ramadan as Israelis are starving Gaza
Last week, South Africa returned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to request further provisional measures against "Israel" to address the widespread starvation.
In an urgent plea, Pretoria stated that it was "compelled to return to the Court in light of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza — particularly the situation of widespread starvation."
It further requested the court to specify additional provisional measures in the case regarding the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Gaza, citing the urgent necessity "to ensure the safety and security of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including over a million children."
The Court's response to Pretoria's request is still pending.
