The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has appealed to Israeli and Hamas leaders, currently taking part in intense negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Mr Guterres made the call while speaking with journalists on Tuesday in New York.

He said, “For the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the hostages and their families in Israel and for the sake of the region and the wider world, to reach an agreement. I strongly encourage the Government of Israel and the Hamas leadership to reach an agreement.”

Mr Guterres expressed fear that without an agreement, “the war, with all its consequences both in Gaza and across the region, will worsen exponentially.”

Nearly seven months have passed since the brutal Hamas-led attacks on Israel, which sparked the current hostilities.

Recent weeks have seen airstrikes on the Rafah area in southern Gaza, where more than 1.2 million people are now sheltering with limited access to food, medical care and other services and with nowhere safe to go.

Mr Guterres said a military assault there “would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee.”

Furthermore, it would have a devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions in the occupied West Bank and across the wider region.

“All members of the Security Council, and many other governments, have clearly expressed their opposition to such an operation. I appeal for all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent it,” he said.

Turning to the north, where vulnerable people are already dying of hunger and disease, he urged the international community to “do everything possible to avert an entirely preventable human-made famine.”

Although incremental progress has been made, much more is urgently needed, including the promised opening of two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought in from Ashdod Port and Jordan.

Lack of security is a major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza, and he stressed that humanitarian convoys, facilities and personnel as well as people in need “must not be targets.”

“We welcome aid delivery by air and sea, but there is no alternative to the massive use of land routes,” he said, before reiterating the call on Israel to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza, including the UN’s Palestine relief agency, UNRWA.

 Mr Guterres also addressed how the war has “decimated” the health system in the enclave, where two thirds of hospitals and health centres are out of commission, while many of those remaining are seriously damaged.

“Some hospitals now resemble cemeteries,” he said, voicing deep alarm over reports of the discovery of mass graves at several locations, including at Al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals.

More than 390 bodies reportedly have been exhumed at Nasser Hospital alone, and “there are competing narratives around several of these mass graves, including serious allegations that some of those buried were unlawfully killed,” he added.

The UN chief said it was imperative that independent international forensic investigators were allowed immediate access to these sites to determine the precise circumstances under which hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied.

“The families of the dead and missing have a right to know what happened, and the world has a right to accountability for any violations of international law that may have taken place,” he said.

(NAN)