UN chief warns humanitarian aid network in Gaza at 'high risk' of total collapse

WASHINGTON

The humanitarian support system in the besieged Gaza Strip faces "total collapse" amid an unprecedented number of slain UN workers, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday.

There would be "devastating consequences," should the aid network fail, and if that were to happen, it "would result in a complete breakdown of public order and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt," Guterres said.

"I fear the consequences could be devastating for the security of the entire region," he told the Security Council ahead of an expected vote on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to end the hostilities.

"The risk of collapse of the humanitarian system is fundamentally linked with a complete lack of safety and security for our staff in Gaza, and with the nature and intensity of military operations, which are severely limiting access to people in desperate need," he added.

The UN Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is currently facilitating aid for over 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, including over 1.2 million people who have sought shelter in the organization's facilities.

The body has warned that the situation is nearing "a point of no return" in the coastal enclave "where the blatant disregard for international humanitarian law scars our collective conscience."

At least 133 UNRWA workers have been killed, making the war in Gaza the deadliest for UN personnel in the international body's history, and 91 UNRWA facilities have been damaged during the conflict. Many of the UN workers were killed in their homes alongside their families.

Meanwhile, Guterres said Palestinians in Gaza "are being told to move like human pinballs – ricocheting between ever-smaller slivers of the south, without any of the basics for survival," alluding to Israeli orders for people to leave areas they plan to bomb. He cautioned, however, that "nowhere in Gaza is safe."

"The people of Gaza are looking into the abyss. The international community must do everything possible to end their ordeal. I urge the Council to spare no effort to push for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for the protection of civilians, and for the urgent delivery of lifesaving aid," he said. "The eyes of the world – and the eyes of history – are watching."

On Wednesday, Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since he assumed the organization's top post in 2017 for the establishment of a cease-fire, saying the current conditions are making it impossible for "meaningful humanitarian operations" to be conducted.

At least 17,487 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,480 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

The Israeli death toll from the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, according to official figures.