UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has made a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n
“It is time to silence the guns,” he said, speaking from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with the enclave.<\/p>\n
He also called on Israel to give “total, unfettered” access to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza.<\/p>\n
A UN-backed food security assessment this week said 1.1 million people in Gaza were struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation.<\/p>\n
It added that a man-made famine in the north was imminent between now and May.<\/p>\n
Mr Guterres, who said he had come to Rafah “to spotlight the pain of Palestinians in Gaza”, was speaking a day after Russia and China blocked a US draft resolution put to the UN<\/a> which called for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages held in Gaza.<\/p>\n “It’s time to truly flood Gaza with life-saving aid. The choice is clear: either surge or starvation. Blocked relief trucks on the Egyptian side of border are a moral outrage,” said Mr Guterres, who also called for the release of Israeli hostages.<\/p>\n “I want Palestinians in Gaza to know: You are not alone. People around the world are outraged by the horrors we are all witnessing in real time. Palestinians in Gaza remain stuck in a non-stop nightmare,” he added.<\/p>\n