30 September 2025
Hamas has yet to
respond to Washington’s 20-point peace plan, which has the
backing of Israel and the wider international community.
Hamas leadership had not been consulted on it prior to the
announcement but was briefed on the details by Qatari and
Egyptian mediators later on Monday, according to news
reports.
In a statement released by his Spokesperson,
Mr. Guterres said he appreciated the important role played
by Arab and Muslim States towards a sustainable peace deal:
“It is now crucial that all parties commit to an
agreement and its implementation.”
The UN
chief said the priority must be to “ease the tremendous
suffering” caused by the devastating conflict since the 7
October attacks.
“He once again reiterates his call
for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unfettered
humanitarian access across Gaza and for the immediate and
unconditional release of all hostages and he hopes
that this will create the conditions allowing for the
realization of the two-State
solution.”
Mass displacement
continues
Winter is fast-approaching and
heavy ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza City
continue to drive mass displacement.
“It’s important
that we get that ceasefire and then we get aid flowing in
not only to prevent the famine that continues to move to the
south, but also to make sure that children and families are
sheltered,” UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson
Ricardo Pires told reporters in Geneva.
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Mr. Pires
stressed that falling temperatures in the devastated enclave
will create “a whole different range of issues”,
including health challenges for children and their
families.
Al Mawasi overload
He
highlighted the “massive” displacement happening as
people flee from the north to the south. Conditions are dire
in the overcrowded coastal tented settlement at Al-Mawasi
which “can simply not absorb the quantity of people who are
moving in”.
“We’re talking about hundreds of
thousands of people, an estimated 400,000 displaced,” he
insisted.
According to the UN aid coordination office
(OCHA), only about 18 per
cent of the Gaza Strip is not subject to displacement orders
or located within militarized zones.
People who have
lost their homes need shelter desperately and UNICEF has
11,000 tents as well as tarpaulin sheets “waiting to get
in” to the Strip, Mr. Pires said.
“We’re
not being able to get those supplies in… It just shows how
the conditions in terms of logistics and facilitation of aid
continue to be very, very poor,” he
said.
Echoing his comments, OCHA spokesperson Jens
Laerke stressed that humanitarians’ ability to distribute
aid within Gaza is still compromised. Some aid has been able
to enter, he said, highlighting the fact that community
kitchens have been “resupplied to some extent”, with
some 660,000 meals prepared and delivered through 137
kitchens across the enclave last
Sunday.
Convoys still denied
access
But the ability to get aid into
people’s hands depends on humanitarians obtaining
permission to collect and deliver it.
“Sometimes it
works, sometimes it doesn’t,” Mr. Laerke explained, either
because of non-facilitation by the Israeli side or for other
reasons.
The UN previously said that on Sunday more
than 40 per cent of the humanitarian missions that require
coordination with the Israeli military were
denied.
“A lot of the aid that has come in recently,
that has been picked up, has been taken off the trucks by
desperate people and in some cases by armed groups,”
OCHA’s Mr. Laerke added.
He called the current
situation “chaotic” and underscored the “absolute”
need for a ceasefire as soon as possible so that
humanitarians can resume “a proper and well-coordinated,
well-supplied aid
operation”.
