Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 19, 2023
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 19, 2023
UN chief calls for ‘sustained’ humanitarian access to Gaza
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) and Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry hold a press conference in Cairo on October 19, 2023. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges “rapid, unimpeded humanitarian access” to the Gaza Strip.
“We need food, water, medicine and fuel now. We need it at scale and we need it to be sustained, it is not one small operation that is required,” Guterres says in Cairo, as calls mount for aid to reach the territory’s 2.4 million people.
“In plain terms, that means humanitarians need to be able to get aid in and they need to be able to distribute it safely.”
US sources have said that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza is slated to open tomorrow to allow in waiting convoys of aid.
