UN chief Guterres accuses Israel of failing to meet legal obligations as occupying power in Gaza

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres accused Israel on Tuesday of failing to meet its "unequivocal obligations" as an occupying power in Gaza.

"More than an entire month has passed without a drop of aid into Gaza. No food. No fuel. No medicine. No commercial supplies. As aid has dried up, the floodgates of horror have reopened," Mr Guterres told reporters.

Quoting the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of people in war, he said that the "occupying power has the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population" as well as ensuring and maintaining "medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory". He added that all medical personnel must also be allowed to carry out their duties.

Mr Guterres said that under the conventions, if civilians in an occupied territory do not have adequate supplies, the occupying force must “agree to relief schemes on behalf of the said population and shall facilitate them by all means at its disposal".

“None of that is happening today,” Mr Guterres said. “No humanitarian supplies can enter Gaza.”

Israel, which has denied being the occupying power in Gaza since withdrawing in 2005, has faced mounting international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave during its military campaign.

Israel cut off aid to Gaza in early March and later resumed intense bombardment across the territory as well as ground operations.

The war, which started after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, has devastated Gaza, with widespread hunger, a collapsing medical system and limited aid access. Israel maintains that it allows humanitarian assistance to enter but blames Hamas for disruptions.

In a joint statement on Monday, the heads of several UN agencies said many Gazans are “trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up, and vital equipment is stuck” outside of the blockaded territory.

Mr Guterres rejected new Israeli “authorisation mechanisms” for aid delivery, saying they could lead to "further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour".

"Let me be clear: We will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality," he said.

He also raised the alarm about the situation in the West Bank. "The current path is a dead end, totally intolerable in the eyes of international law and history," Mr Guterres said. "And the risk of the occupied West Bank transforming into another Gaza makes it even worse."