“The world can no longer bear” this “endless nightmare”, the UN Secretary-General said today Antonio Guterres from Egypt, on its outskirts Gaza Stripwhere a war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has been raging for the past 5-plus months.

“I echo the opinion of the vast majority of people who have seen enough. Which can’t stand any more,” Guterres told reporters from the Egyptian side border station of Rafa.

“In Gaza, the Palestinians are trapped in an endless nightmare,” he added.

The UN chief deplored the “destroyed homes, families and entire generations that have been lost as well as the hunger and famine looming over the population”.

He appealed again for the implementation of a ceasefire.

“Nothing justifies the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7 (in Israel, which triggered the war). And nothing justifies the collective punishment endured by the Palestinian people. Now more than ever, it is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” he stressed.

Five and a half months of a devastating war has plunged the besieged Gaza Strip into a dire humanitarian situation, on the brink of starvation.

A long line of stalled aid trucks on the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip, where the world is facing famine, amounts to a moral outrage, Guterres said today during a visit to the Rafah border crossing.

It is time for Israel to make an “unwavering commitment” to the free access of humanitarian goods inside Gaza, Guterres stressed.

“Under the spirit of his compassion Ramadanit is time to immediately release all the hostages” in Gaza, he further said.

THE UN will continue to work with Egypt to “optimize” the flow of aid to Gaza, he told reporters from the gates of the Rafah border crossing, an aid entry point.

“Here from the passage, we see heartbreak and cruelty in their full range. A long line of immobilized aid trucks on one side of the gate, the heavy shadow of famine on the other,” he underlined.

“This is beyond tragic. It causes a moral outcry.”

Antonio Guterres’ visit comes as Israel faces pressure from the international community to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Before visiting the border, where he met with UN aid workers, Guterres traveled to Al Ares in Egypt’s northern Sinai, where much of the international aid to Gaza is delivered and stored.

At his reception, regional governor Mohamed Sousa said about 7,000 trucks were waiting in northern Sinai, but inspection procedures demanded by Israel were delaying the flow of aid.

Guterres also visited a hospital in Al Ares, where Palestinians from Gaza have been taken for treatment.