Guterres: Situation in Gaza ‘growing more desperate by the hour’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns the situation in Hamas-ruled Gaza is declining rapidly as he repeats desperate appeals for a ceasefire to end the “nightmare” of bloodshed.

“The situation in Gaza is growing more desperate by the hour. I regret that instead of a critically needed humanitarian pause, supported by the international community, Israel has intensified its military operations,” Guterres says on a visit to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

Last week, Guterres said that Hamas’s October 7 massacre “didn’t happen in a vacuum,” a comment decried by Israel as justifying terror.

Israel has been fighting Hamas since the attack in which some 2,500 terrorists streamed into Israel, killing over 1,400 people, a majority of them civilians in their homes and at an outdoor music festival.

Hamas and allied terrorist factions also dragged over 230 hostages — including some 30 children — into the Gaza Strip where they remain captive.

Israel says its Gaza offensive is aimed at destroying Hamas’s infrastructure, and has vowed to eliminate the entire terror group, which rules the Strip. It says it is targeting all areas where Hamas operates, while seeking to minimize civilian casualties.