U.N. envoys say ‘enough’ to war on a trip to Gaza border

On Monday, representatives from the United Nations Security Council visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, which is the sole entry point for supplies into the beleaguered Palestinian enclave. They talked of indescribable suffering and stressed the need to put an end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

When reporters asked Zhang Jun, China’s envoy to the United Nations, whether he had a message for countries opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza, he responded with a straightforward statement: “Enough is enough.”

The majority of governments that are members of the United Nations are in favor of an immediate and permanent truce between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which governs Gaza. This is because the situation for Gaza’s 2.3 million citizens is becoming increasingly severe.

As Israeli tanks and troops continue to pursue an assault that has resulted in the displacement of the majority of Gaza’s inhabitants and the deaths of more than 18,000 people, the United States, which is a supporter of Israel, exercised its right to reject a suggested demand for an immediate ceasefire from the Security Council last week.

Just a few days after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a warning that hundreds of people in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave were “simply starving,” a dozen Security Council envoys traveled to Rafah to tour the city. The United Arab Emirates organized the trip.

Upon arriving in Al-Arish, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) gave them an update on the situation in Gaza. Subsequently, they proceeded to Rafah, which is located around 30 miles (48 kilometers).

“The reality is even worse than what words can speak,” Jose De La Gasca, the ambassador of Ecuador to the United Nations, told reporters following the briefing by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Representatives from the United States of America and France did not take part in the trip.

Lana Nusseibeh, the permanent representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, stated that the envoys were informed that Gazans were dying not only from the battle itself but also from starvation, a crumbling medical system, and a shortage of water and food.

Israel has launched an invasion on the ground, imposed a siege, and bombarded Gaza from the air and land in retaliation for an attack by Hamas on October 7 that it claims caused the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 240 more. Approximately 18,000 Palestinians have been dead, and 49,500 others have been injured as a result of Israeli assaults, according to Gaza’s health officials.

It is estimated that the great majority of the 2.3 million Palestinians who live in the Palestinian enclave have been forced to leave their homes.

“HUMAN STARVATION IS PRESENT.”
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), reported an “implosion of civil order” in which Gazans who had not eaten for days robbed aid distribution centers and halted trucks on roadways to gain access to goods for their friends and relatives.

“There is not enough assistance,” Lazzarini stated on the situation. “In Gaza, hunger is the dominant condition… It appears that the majority of folks are just sleeping on the concrete.

The situation in Gaza was described as “catastrophic” by the Russian ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, who also stated that those who are opposed to a ceasefire should “face the reality and afford dignity to the Palestinians.”

Despite allegations that it was hypocritical to condemn Israel while Moscow had invaded Ukraine, Nebenzia refuted such allegations.

A small amount of humanitarian supplies and gasoline has been brought into Gaza through the Rafah border; nevertheless, representatives from the relief organization have stated that this does not even come close to meeting the most fundamental needs of Gazans.

At the same time that United Nations envoys were making their way towards the Rafah border, hundreds of assistance trucks were parked along the road that led to the crossing, waiting to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The United Arab Emirates’ Nusseibeh stated that Abu Dhabi was coordinating with the appropriate authorities to ensure that Gaza would get potable water from a desalination project in Egypt that the Emiratis sponsored.

It is unknown if Gaza’s infrastructure is capable of accepting the desalinated water after weeks of intensive Israeli shelling, even though Israel has cut off the water supply to Gaza.

A total of one hundred trucks bringing humanitarian goods entered Gaza from Egypt on Sunday, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. This is the same number of vehicles that entered Gaza the day before.

This was “well below” the daily average of 500 truckloads, including gasoline, that were brought in on every working day previous to October 7, according to the report.

An employee of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stated, on the condition of anonymity, that a logistics center located close to Al-Arish was now keeping supplies that Israel had prohibited from being shipped into Gaza. These products included solar panels and an ultrasound machine. The worker said they were prohibited because they included metal and were electrical.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now in the process of negotiating a resolution that includes a demand that warring parties “allow the use of all land, sea, and air routes to and throughout” Gaza to provide relief.

Additionally, it would establish a framework for monitoring aid in the Gaza Strip for the United Nations. At what point the draft resolution could be placed to a vote was not entirely apparent.

An official warning was issued by Guterres to the Security Council the previous week on the worldwide threat that the conflict poses to peace and security.

Later, he criticized the council for having “failed” to assist in establishing a humanitarian truce. He stated that fifty percent of Gazans living in the northern part of the territory and at least thirty percent of those who had been displaced in the southern part of the territory were “simply starving.”

A meeting of the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to take place on Tuesday in Gaza, as requested by Arab and Muslim governments. It is anticipated that the 193-member assembly will vote on a draft resolution that calls for an immediate halt in humanitarian operations, according to diplomats.