With basic essentials running out in Gaza, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday appealed for humanitarian access to the besieged enclave.
"For nearly two weeks the people of Gaza have gone without any shipments of fuel, food, water, medicine, and other essentials. Disease is spreading. Supplies are dwindling. People are dying," he said, speaking in Cairo alongside Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
Mr. Guterres is in the Middle East to witness UN preparations to be able to deliver massive support to Gaza.
'A moment of profound crisis'
He is there at what he described as "a moment of profound crisis…unlike any the region has seen in decades", triggered by the "atrocious" Hamas attacks against Israel, resulting in Israel's siege and relentless bombing of Gaza.
The UN chief called for two immediate humanitarian actions in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe.
"To Hamas, for the immediate and unconditional release of your hostages. To Israel, for immediate and restricted assess of humanitarian aid to respond to the most basic needs of the people of Gaza."
He also called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to help realize both actions.
Safe aid delivery
Mr. Guterres underlined the need for rapid, unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.
"We need food, water, medicine and fuel now. We need it at scale, and we need it to be sustained," he said.
"It is not one small operation that is required. It is a sustained effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. In plain terms, that means humanitarians need to be able to get the aid in and they need to be able to distribute it safely."
In this regard, he said Egypt's El Arish airport and the Rafah Crossing, the sole one open into Gaza, "are not only critical, they are our only hope".
The Secretary-General praised Egypt for being "a pillar of multilateral cooperation and the linchpin in helping to defuse tensions and to ease colossal human pain and suffering."
He is scheduled to participate in an international summit convened by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday.
