UN chief condemns 'endless' Gaza horrors as Israel presses offensive

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned the “endless catalogue of horrors” in Gaza after nearly two years of war, while the territory’s civil defence reported dozens killed by Israel.

Israel, whose military is preparing to conquer Gaza City, is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its offensive in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations has declared a famine.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population of more than two million people has been displaced at least once during the war, with aid groups on the ground warning against expanding the military campaign.

“Gaza is piled with rubble, piled with bodies and piled with examples of what may be serious violations of international law,” Guterres told journalists on Thursday, calling for accountability.

On the ground on Thursday, AFP footage showed massive clouds of smoke rising into the sky above Gaza City after Israeli bombardments of the outskirts of the territory’s largest city.

Aya Daher, who was displaced from Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, told AFP she had no shelter and was sitting outside a local hospital “just waiting for God’s mercy”.

“There were explosions all night. I was injured, my husband was injured by shrapnel, and my son was also wounded in the head. Thank God we survived, but there were martyrs,” she said.

Heading south

Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 40 people across the territory on Thursday, including six shot while waiting for aid in the south.

When asked for comment by AFP, the Israeli military said it needed precise times and coordinates to look into the reports.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

In a statement on Thursday, the military said it was preparing to “expand operations against Hamas in Gaza City”, while COGAT, the defence ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said it was undertaking preparations “for moving the population southward for their protection”.

AFP photos from the centre of Gaza showed lines of Palestinians fleeing south in vans and cars piled high with mattresses, chairs and bags.

The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich meanwhile said that so long as Hamas refuses to disarm, the Israeli government should annex parts of the Gaza Strip after Palestinian civilians leave them.

Hamas in response condemned “an open endorsement of… ethnic cleansing.”

Breaking point

The head of the UN’s World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, warned that Gaza was “at breaking point” and appealed for the urgent revival of its network of 200 food distribution points.

After a visit to the territory, McCain said she saw first-hand that “desperation is soaring”.

The UN declared a famine in Gaza governorate last week, blaming “systematic obstruction” by Israel of humanitarian aid deliveries.

Israel has severely restricted the aid allowed into Gaza and at times completely cut it off during its offensive against Hamas, whose October 2023 attack against southern Israel triggered the war.

Once Israel began to ease restrictions in late May, after a more than two-month blockade, the private US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was established to distribute food aid, effectively sidelining UN agencies.

Distribution has been marred by chaotic scenes, with frequent reports of starving Palestinians being shot while waiting to collect aid at one of its four distribution sites.

UN rights experts voiced alarm Thursday at reports of “enforced disappearances” at GHF sites, but the organisation said there was “no evidence” of such disappearances at its aid points.