Guterres called for speeding up the inspection of trucks in Rafah to facilitate access and avoid a “total collapse” of aid.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called this Friday to speed up the inspection of the Rafah crossing, which separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt, “to allow more trucks to enter Gaza without delay. ” In a statement, Guterres endorsed the statements of other organizations dependent on the UN and said that “the humanitarian system in Gaza is facing a total collapse, with unimaginable consequences for more than two million civilians.
When passing through Rafah, each truck must be completely emptied to be inspected for possible weapons and ammunition and can only be reloaded when this inspection is completed, the executive director of the UN World Food Programmer, Cindy, explained on Thursday. McCain. “(This system) must be adjusted to allow more trucks to enter Gaza without delay,” said Guterres, who recalled that in recent days only an average of 12 trucks a day entered Gaza when, before the war, there were 500.
Guterres welcomed the growing call for a humanitarian cessation of hostilities and reiterated: “I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the delivery of essential supplies on a necessary scale.”
While there have been some limited deliveries of food, water and medicine since Saturday, no fuel has been allowed. Israel is concerned about possible fuel transfers to Hamas. Fuel is essential to power hospitals, water desalination plants, food production and aid distribution, Guterres said.
Describing the situation in Gaza as “desperate and dramatic”, the UN chief warned that the UN cannot continue to provide aid inside the enclave “without an immediate and fundamental change in the way aid arrives”.
