{"id":290515,"date":"2023-11-06T15:38:08","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T20:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=290515"},"modified":"2023-11-07T15:44:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T20:44:31","slug":"secretary-generals-press-conference-on-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/secretary-generals-press-conference-on-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretary-General’s Press Conference – on the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

06 November 2023<\/span><\/h4>\n

The Secretary-General<\/h4>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Very good morning.<\/p>\n

The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n

It is a crisis of humanity.<\/p>\n

The intensifying conflict is shaking the world, rattling the region and, most tragically, destroying so many innocent lives.<\/p>\n

Ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN facilities \u2013 including shelters.<\/p>\n

No one is safe.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately towards Israel.<\/p>\n

I reiterate my utter condemnation of the abhorrent acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October \u2013 and repeat my call for the immediate, unconditional and safe release of hostages held in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Nothing can justify the deliberate torture, killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians.<\/p>\n

The protection of civilians must be paramount.<\/p>\n

I am deeply concerned about clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing.<\/p>\n

Let me be clear:\u00a0 No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen of the press,<\/p>\n

Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children.\u00a0 Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day.<\/p>\n

More journalists have reportedly been killed over a four-week period than in any conflict in at least three decades.<\/p>\n

More United Nations aid workers have been killed than in any comparable period in the history of our organization.<\/p>\n

I salute all those who continue their life-saving work despite the overwhelming challenges and risks.<\/p>\n

The unfolding catastrophe makes the need for a humanitarian ceasefire more urgent with every passing hour.<\/p>\n

The parties to the conflict — and, indeed, the international community — face an immediate and fundamental responsibility: to stop the inhuman collective suffering and dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza.<\/p>\n

Today, the United Nations and our partners are launching a $1.2 billion humanitarian appeal to help 2.7 million people \u2013 that\u2019s the entire population of the Gaza Strip and half a million Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Some life-saving aid is getting into Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing.
\nBut the trickle of assistance does not meet the ocean of need.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s be clear:\u00a0 the Rafah crossing alone does not have the capacity to process aid trucks at the scale required.<\/p>\n

Just over 400 trucks have crossed into Gaza over the past two weeks \u2013 compared with 500 a day before the conflict.\u00a0 And crucially, this does not include fuel.<\/p>\n

Without fuel, newborn babies in incubators and patients on life support will die.<\/p>\n

Water cannot be pumped or purified.<\/p>\n

Raw sewage could soon start gushing onto the streets, further spreading disease.<\/p>\n

Trucks loaded with critical relief will be stranded.<\/p>\n

The way forward is clear.<\/p>\n

A humanitarian ceasefire.\u00a0 Now.<\/p>\n

All parties respecting all their obligations under international humanitarian law.\u00a0 Now.<\/p>\n

This means the unconditional release of the hostages in Gaza.\u00a0 Now.<\/p>\n

The protection of civilians, hospitals, UN facilities, shelters and schools.\u00a0 Now.<\/p>\n

More food, more water, more medicine and of course fuel \u2013 entering Gaza safely, swiftly and at the scale needed.\u00a0 Now.<\/p>\n

Unfettered access to deliver supplies to all people in need in Gaza.\u00a0 Now.<\/p>\n

And the end of the use of civilians as human shields.\u00a0 Now.<\/p>\n

None of these appeals should be conditional on the others.<\/p>\n

And for all of this, we need more funding \u2013 now.<\/p>\n

In addition, I remain gravely concerned about rising violence and an expansion of the conflict.\u00a0 The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is at a boiling point.<\/p>\n

Let us also not forget the importance of addressing the risks of the conflict spilling over to the wider region.<\/p>\n

We are already witnessing a spiral of escalation from Lebanon and Syria, to Iraq and Yemen.<\/p>\n

That escalation must stop.<\/p>\n

Cool heads and diplomatic efforts must prevail.<\/p>\n

Hateful rhetoric and provocative actions must cease.<\/p>\n

I am deeply troubled by the rise in antisemitism and anti-Muslim bigotry.<\/p>\n

Jewish and Muslim communities in many parts of the world are on high alert, fearing for their personal safety and security.<\/p>\n

Emotions are at a fever pitch.\u00a0 Tensions are running high.<\/p>\n

The images of suffering are heart breaking and soul crushing.<\/p>\n

But we must find a way to hold on to our common humanity.<\/p>\n

I think of civilians in Gaza \u2013 the vast majority women and children — terrified by the relentless bombardment.<\/p>\n

I join the UN family in mourning 89 of our UNRWA colleagues who have been killed in Gaza \u2013 many of them together with members of their family.<\/p>\n

They include teachers, school principals, doctors, engineers, guards, support staff and a young woman named Mai.<\/p>\n

Mai did not let her muscular dystrophy or her wheelchair confine her dreams.\u00a0 She was a top student, became a software developer and devoted her skills to working on information technology for UNRWA.<\/p>\n

I am so deeply inspired by her example.<\/p>\n

I think of all those tortured and killed in Israel nearly one month ago and the hostages \u2013 abducted from their homes, their families, their friends while simply living their lives.<\/p>\n

Ten days ago, I met with some of the family members of those hostages.<\/p>\n

I heard their stories, felt their anguish and was deeply moved by their compassion.<\/p>\n

I will never relent in working for their immediate release.\u00a0 This is essential in itself and central to solving many other challenges.<\/p>\n

One mother movingly shared with me her desolation over her abducted son, Hersh.<\/p>\n

She also spoke outside the Security Council \u2013 and on the subject of confronting hatred, she said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you only get outraged when one side\u2019s babies are killed, then your moral compass is broken and your humanity is broken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even in her utter despair, she stood before the world and reminded us:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a competition of pain, there is never a winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

We must act now to find a way out of this brutal, awful, agonizing dead end of destruction.<\/p>\n

To help end the pain and suffering.<\/p>\n

To help heal the broken.<\/p>\n

And to help pave the way to peace, to a two-state solution with Israelis and Palestinians living in peace and security.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

06 November 2023 The Secretary-General Very good morning. The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity. The intensifying conflict is shaking the world, rattling the region and, most tragically, destroying so many innocent lives. Ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2565,1699,2637],"document-source":[5352],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1769,1829,2265,2033,2057,2005,2533,1741,5200,1857,6845,2153],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[],"class_list":["post-290515","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-briefing","document-category-press-conference","document-category-remarks","document-source-secretary-general","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-casualties","document-subject-ceasefire","document-subject-children","document-subject-food","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-health","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-humanitarian-relief","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-protection-of-civilians","document-subject-refugee-camps","entity-united-nations-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/290515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/290515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290517,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/290515\/revisions\/290517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=290515"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=290515"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=290515"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=290515"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=290515"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=290515"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=290515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}