UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his “deep concern” over the “clear violations” of international humanitarian law in the ongoing Middle – East war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Guterres has denounced the use of civilian hostages as human shields, as well as the air strikes on southern Gaza following an evacuation order. Israeli diplomats have reacted angrily to Guterres’ responding that the Hamas assault on Israel was also violation of humanitarian laws.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN has called for Guterres’ resignation, while the country’s foreign minister has asked Guterres “what kind of world he lives in?”. On Monday, one of the two hostages released by Hamas said they had gone through “hell”.
Hamas continues to hold more than 200 people hostage in the Gaza Strip, four of whom have been freed so far, while Israel continues to bomb the strip. The health ministry of the Hamas-controlled strip reported that nearly 5800 people have lost their lives since October 7 when the terror group launched an assault on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people.
This brings the death toll since the war began to more than 7,200 people since the beginning of October.
