Despite the “ray of hope” brought by the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamasthe residents of the Gaza Strip are experiencing a “monumental humanitarian catastrophe”, denounced the UN secretary-general today, calling for “a real humanitarian ceasefire” to be implemented.

“The people of Gaza are living in the midst of a monumental humanitarian disaster, under the eyes of the world. We must not look away.” stressed Antonio Guterres speaking to the Security Council. “Intensive negotiations have been held to extend the ceasefire and we sincerely welcome them, but we believe we need a real, humanitarian ceasefire,” he added, recalling that 80% of Gazans have been displaced since the start of the war.

“The food system has collapsed and hunger is spreading, especially in the north,” he noted, also underlining that the sanitary situation is “unbearable” in the shelters and constitutes a “serious threat to public health”.

Aid reaching the Palestinians of Gaza remains insufficient to meet the needs of the 2 million people, mainly in terms of fuel, the secretary-general insisted, calling for the opening of other border crossings to the enclave, apart from Rafah. Reiterating his condemnation of Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, Guterres also called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages.

“We must ensure that the people and the region finally see hope on the horizon – that we will move decisively and irreversibly towards a two-state solution, based on UN resolutions and international law, with Israel and Palestine to coexist in peace and security”he underlined.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki called on the world to ensure “the carnage does not resume” in Gaza, as Hamas said it was ready to extend the ceasefire for another four days.Do not doubt. For all this talk of destroying Israel, it is Palestine that is the target of a plan to destroy it,” he insisted, assuring that “the Palestinian people are here to stay.”

“Israel must be convinced that no power on the planet can uproot the Palestinians from Palestine”he added.

For his part, the Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said that “anyone who supports the ceasefire is essentially supporting the continuation of Hamas’ reign of terror in Gaza.”