United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday criticized Israel once again, this time over its decision to halt the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
“Humanitarian aid is not negotiable. In Gaza, it must flow without impediment,” wrote Guterres in a post on social media site X.
“The response needs to be adequately funded and civilians — including humanitarians — must be protected,” he added. “We have proven that, with access, the UN-coordinated response can deliver the aid that people need.”
Israel's political echelon on Sunday announced a stop to the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip after the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal.
The decision came in response to Hamas’ rejection of US envoy Steve Witkoff's proposal for a temporary ceasefire during the Ramadan and Passover periods.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem had said that his organization would not release the Israeli hostages held in Gaza except in an exchange deal that would be the product of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Guterres being critical of Israel has been a regular occurrence since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Several weeks after the massacre, the UN Secretary-General said that Hamas’ attack on Israel “did not happen in a vacuum” and appeared to blame Israel for the attack.
After his remarks were widely condemned, the UN chief claimed his comments were misinterpreted and that he had indeed condemned Hamas.
Later, he mentioned the sexual crimes committed by Hamas in its October 7 attack in Israel in the same breath as “reports of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees”.
Subsequently, Guterres appeared to equate between Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
More recently, Guterres last month called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the establishment of a Palestinian state, but made no mention of the difficult physical state of three hostages who had been released by Hamas that day after 491 days in captivity.
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