UN Security Council envoys spoke of unimaginable suffering and called for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip as they headed from the Sinai Peninsula to the Rafah border crossing, the only passage for humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.

China’s UN envoy Zhang Jun, when asked by reporters if he had a message for countries opposing the Gaza ceasefire, said tersely: “Enough is enough.”

A majority of UN member states favor an immediate and lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, as conditions worsen for the region’s 2.3 million residents. The US last week vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire as Israeli tanks and ground forces press ahead with operations that have displaced most residents and killed more than 18,000 people. .

Twelve Security Council envoys took part in the trip to Rafah organized by the United Arab Emirates, just days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that thousands of people in the besieged enclave were “simply starving”. After arriving by air in the city of Al Ares, Egypt, they were briefed by the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) about the conditions in Gaza and then headed to Rafah, which is about 50 kilometers away.

“The reality is worse than words can describe,” Ecuador’s spokesman Jose De La Gasca told reporters after the UNRWA briefing was over. “We have to see what is happening and what we can do to respond to the situation,” he added.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini described an “outburst of social unrest” as Gazans who have not eaten for days looted aid distribution centers and stopped trucks on the streets, trying to secure some supplies for their families.

“There is not enough help. Hunger prevails in Gaza (…) most people sleep on cement,” he described.

Limited amounts of humanitarian aid and fuel have flown into Gaza through Rafah, but UN officials say they are not enough to meet Gazans’ basic needs. The 15-member Security Council is debating a United Arab Emirates resolution calling on all warring parties to “allow the use of all land, sea and air corridors” to get aid to Gaza. It is not clear when this text will be put to a vote.

The UN General Assembly will meet tomorrow Tuesday to discuss Gaza, at the request of Arab and Muslim countries. He is likely to vote on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, according to diplomatic sources.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 100 trucks with humanitarian aid passed from Egypt to Gaza on Sunday, as many as on Saturday. That number is far less than the roughly 500 trucks and tankers of fuel that passed through the enclave daily before October 7.

A UNICEF worker, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the logistics center near Al Ares holds items that Israel has banned from entering Gaza, including solar panels and an ultrasound machine. The ban was imposed because these items contain metal elements and are electrical.