UN Secretary General will 'not give up' on push for Israel-Gaza ceasefire as fighting continues
UN Secretary General António Guterres has said he will 'not give up' on efforts to push for Israel-Gaza ceasefire, as Sam Holder reports.
Israel is pushing ahead with its air and ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza with heavy fighting continuing.
The U.S. has blocked the latest international push for a cease-fire and rushed more munitions to its close ally.
Israel has faced rising international outrage and calls for a permanent cease-fire after the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians. About 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where U.N. agencies say there is no safe place to flee.
The United States has lent vital support to the offensive by vetoing United Nations Security Council efforts to end the fighting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for the “important ammunition for the continuation of the war."
The U.S. has pledged unwavering support for Israel's goal of crushing Hamas' military and governing abilities, and returning all the hostages captured in the October 7 attack that triggered the war. Hamas and other Palestinian militants stormed into southern Israel that day, killing some 1,200 people and capturing more than 240, over 100 of whom were released during a weeklong cease-fire late last month.
Israel's air and ground war in response has reportedly killed more than 18,000 Palestinians, including women and children, and injuring almost 50,000.
Some 1.9 million people have also been forced to flee their homes.
With a trickle of aid allowed in, and delivery impossible in much of the territory, Palestinians face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods.
"Expect public order to completely break down soon, and an even worse situation could unfold including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told a forum in Qatar.
Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Israel's Channel 12 TV that the U.S. has set no deadline for Israel to achieve its goals of dismantling Hamas and returning all hostages.
“The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months,” he said.
Israeli forces face heavy resistance, even in northern Gaza, where neighbourhoods have been flattened by air strikes and where ground troops have operated for over six weeks.
Israel ordered the evacuation of the northern third of the territory, including Gaza City, early in the war, but tens of thousands of people have remained, fearing that the south would be no safer or that they would never be allowed to return to their homes.
Heavy fighting was also underway in and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
It comes as Netanyahu’s office said Hamas still has 117 hostages, as well as the remains of 20 people killed in captivity or during the October 7 attack. The militants hope to exchange them for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
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