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‘We must never forget the unbearable human cost of this conflict’: UN’s Guterres
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has delivered a statement on the initial ceasefire agreement. Speaking from the UN headquarters in New York, here are highlights of what he said:
- I commend the diplomatic efforts of the United States, Qatar, Egypt for the desperately needed breakthrough. I urge all parties to fully abide by the terms of the agreement. All hostages must be released in a dignified manner; a permanent ceasefire must be secured. The bloodshed must stop once and for all.
- We have the expertise, the distribution networks, the community relationships in place to act, supplies are in place and our teams are on standby. We can scale up food, water, medical, and shelter assistance as well. But to turn this ceasefire into real progress, we need more than silencing the guns.
- We need food, safe and sustained search for humanitarian workers, removal of red tape and impediments, and rebuilding of shattered infrastructure.
- We must never forget the unbearable human cost of this conflict. I mourn all of the lives lost, including United Nations personnel and humanitarian workers, and pay tribute to our colleagues.
- We need a first step towards ending the occupation, recognising the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution. We need a path to a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and to widen peace and security in the Middle East.
- This breakthrough shows us the power and potential of diplomacy. Let it be a reminder that the solutions to conflicts are not found on the battlefield.
Hamas official calls for unified Palestinian position to ‘achieve a free and just Palestinian state’
Husam Badran, the head of Hamas’s national relations and a member of its political bureau, says the world came to understand that “Palestinian people deserve life and their right to self-determination and the establishment of their state on their occupied land.”
He highlighted the necessity of a unified Palestinian position.
“The final response we presented [to reach the Gaza deal] was the fruit of these extensive consultations, and work continued along the same lines during the negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, while following up on all communications and meetings with all Palestinian national factions to ensure a unified position that reflects Palestinian national affairs and fully realises the interests of the Palestinian people,” he said.
Badran added: “What has been achieved today and what can be achieved in the future is thanks to the steadfastness of our people in Gaza, the sacrifices of the resistance and fighters, and the efforts of all Palestinians. This keeps hope alive for us to shape our future with our own hands and achieve a free and just Palestinian state on all our occupied land.”
UN’s top priority is getting humanitarian aid to Gaza
The key role for the UN now going forward is the humanitarian part of this. Remember, the UN has been locked out of Gaza and the humanitarian efforts. They’ve not been able to get any of their supplies in, and of course, we have a situation of famine in Gaza.
The American administration had for many months been backing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, who, when they carried out their work there, were surrounded by mercenaries and Israeli security forces. And many times, those aid delivery efforts turned into massacres.
The UN wants to get back, it wants to get involved. I think the UN is pleased that the Trump 20-point plan puts the UN in place. It puts the UN and the Red Crescent as the delivery methods for aid going forward, and not that controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
We know in the past that Israel has wanted to inspect every single truck. It’s caused all sorts of problems for aid coming in and for aid workers, not granting their visas. I think they’ll be looking at the UN to see whether that has changed.
