NEW YORK: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday expressed serious concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in war-hit Gaza strip.
He said more than 500,000 residents of Gaza are grappling with acute food shortages, calling for uninterrupted humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave and other places experiencing shortages.
Guterres made the remarks to the UN Security Council during a meeting on climate, food and safety. He reminded the 15-member panel that food, climate and conflict crises that starve civilians may constitute a war crime.
“In Gaza, no one has enough to eat. Of the 700,000 hungriest people in the world, four in five inhabit that tiny strip of land,” Guterres said. He added that when wars rage, hunger reigns.
The UN chief went on to say said that he was distressed to see governments spending heavily on weapons while at the same time cutting budgets for food security, climate action and broader sustainable development.
Conflict, main reason of acute food insecurity
Guterres noted climate and conflict are the main reasons of acute food insecurity for almost 174 million people in 2022.
In today's briefing to the Security Council, @antonioguterres said we must create the conditions to resolve conflict and preserve peace in order to break the deadly links between conflict, climate and food insecurity. https://t.co/trqYIiyjgy pic.twitter.com/dltbI8GKHK
— UN Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (@UNDPPA) February 13, 2024
The UN chief also said that Rafah is the core of the humanitarian crisis, warning that a large-scale military operation in the areas would have devastating consequences.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, more Gazans are being forced to the brink of famine, with the territory’s entire population falls in UN agency’s three most critical categories of hunger.
Meanwhile, Algeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Youcef Cherfa has said Israel’s attack on Gaza has left nothing alive and caused a suffocating food crisis and deteriorating environmental situation.
He called upon the international community to act rather than remain passive spectators while thousands are killed, wounded and displaced.
