United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that attacks by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Israel do not justify the collective punishment of the residents of the Gaza Strip.
"You cannot use Hamas as a cause of collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he said in an interview with CNN, stressing that 101 UN staff have died so far in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
According to Guterres, the United States has a special ability and responsibility to contribute to how Gaza is managed, but the best-case scenario is for the revitalized Palestinian Authority to assume leadership in Gaza.
He stressed that it was difficult for the Palestinian Authority or Arab states to assume their responsibilities in Gaza with the presence of the Israeli army.
The UN chief also expressed concern about the spillover of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis into Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Days ago, Guterres said that civilians in Gaza, including women and children, face a never-ending nightmare as their neighbourhoods have been destroyed and loved ones killed.
"As bombs fall on them, they are deprived of their most basic needs such as water, food, electricity and medicine," he said.
Guterres stressed that the needs in the Gaza Strip are very great, reiterating his call for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire to protect civilians and provide them with assistance.
For 37 days, the Israeli army has been waging an air, land and sea war on the besieged Gaza Strip "during which it destroyed residential neighborhoods on the heads of their inhabitants," killing more than 11,8 people, including more than 28,<> children and women, and wounding more than <>,<>.