Our staff are starving: UN’s Guterres decries Gaza's moral crisis
Shafaq News – Gaza/Prague
On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the situation in Gaza as “not only a humanitarian crisis but as a moral crisis challenging the global conscience.”
Speaking in Amnesty International’s global assembly held in the Czech capital, Prague, Guterres reiterated his condemnation of the “horrific terrorist attacks” carried out by Hamas on October 7, but emphasized that “nothing justifies the explosion of death and destruction” that has followed. “The scale and scope of this catastrophe surpass anything we’ve seen in recent memory,” he noted.
The UN chief criticized what he called the international community’s apathy. “I cannot explain the level of indifference and inaction we are witnessing. A lack of compassion. A lack of truth. A lack of humanity,” he said.
Highlighting the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, Guterres stated that even UN staff members are now starving. “We will raise our voices at every opportunity,” he said, “but words do not feed hungry children.”
He also cited UN figures showing that over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since May 27 while trying to access food. “They weren’t killed in combat, but in desperation—while the entire population starves.”
Guterres recalled for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, urging for “urgent, concrete, and irreversible steps toward a two-state solution.”
