New York [US], May 12 : The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said on Sunday that an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is the need of the hour and urged for a "surge" in humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, according to The Times of Israel.
"I repeat my call, the world's call, for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid," Guterres said in a video address to an international donors' conference in Kuwait.
"But a ceasefire will only be the start. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war," he said.
Calling the Gaza conflict "horrific human suffering," Guterres said that the war has resulted in "devastating lives, tearing families apart, and rendering huge numbers of people homeless, hungry, and traumatised."
He made the remarks at a summit in Kuwait, which was arranged by OCHA, the UN agency responsible for humanitarian coordination, and the International Islamic Charitable Organisation (IICO).
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Gaza continued on Sunday after the Israel Defence Forces expanded an evacuation order for Rafah despite international outcry over its military incursion into eastern areas of the city.
In the midst of negotiations through mediators to gain the release of hostages who were kidnapped from Israel during the Hamas October 7 attack, the operation's scope is still restricted.
A vital humanitarian conduit, the Rafah Border Crossing, continues to remain closed.
Egypt is purportedly refusing to work with Israel to arrange the flow of goods into Gaza through the crossing because of Israel's incursion into the city, according to The Times of Israel.
IDF assessments indicate that about 300,000 Palestinians have left Rafah's original evacuation zone and adjacent localities to relocate to a designated "humanitarian zone," the report added.
Israel claims to have prepared to remove civilians from fighting zones, but it maintains that in order to completely destroy Hamas in the enclave, it must take on the organisation's last battalions in Rafah.
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