UN Secretary-General António Guterres today insisted on the need for a political solution to the conflict in Gaza as the only way to move towards sustained peace.

Speaking at a summit here on a better response to the crisis in the enclave, he reinforced his call for dialogue between Israel and Hamas just hours after the Security Council gave the green light to a three-phase plan put forward by the United States.

Guterres welcomed the plan announced earlier by US President Joe Biden, while calling for the opportunity to reach an agreement and to respect international humanitarian law.

According to Guterres, the speed and scale of the killing and slaughter in Gaza surpasses any other event during his years at the helm.

«Despite the ocean of need, at least half of all humanitarian aid missions are denied access, prevented or cancelled for operational or security reasons,» he added.

At the same time, he said, since the attack on the Rafah crossing a month ago, the flow of critical humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, already woefully insufficient, has plummeted by two-thirds.

As a result of the Israeli offensive, 1.7 million Palestinians were forced to flee their homes, often by Israeli military attacks.

Conditions are deplorable, the public health situation is beyond crisis levels, Gaza’s hospitals are in ruins and medical supplies and fuel are scarce or non-existent, the UN official lamented.

More than a million Palestinians in Gaza do not have enough clean water and face desperate levels of hunger while more than 50,000 children need treatment for acute malnutrition, he added.

In this context, the Secretary-General considered the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the main humanitarian actor on the ground and constantly under siege by the Israeli authorities, to be indispensable.

Unrwa’s role will remain crucial not only during the conflict, but also afterwards, the diplomat warned, acknowledging the important role of this entity in providing psychosocial support, education or health assistance.

«Only Unrwa has the capacity, the skills and the networks to help the Palestinian people meet the immense challenge in health, education and much more,» he said.