Guterres, during his visit to the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, pointed out the long queues of trucks while the people of Gaza suffer from famine (Getty)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres revealed that he fasted during his solidarity trip during the month of Ramadan out of respect for the beliefs of the Muslim peoples he is currently visiting, in reference to his visit to the Rafah crossing on Saturday from the Egyptian side, and his visit to Cairo yesterday, Sunday.
This came in a tweet on his account on the X platform, in which he also stated that he felt pain because “many Palestinians in Gaza are unable to eat a proper breakfast.”
My fasting during my Ramadan solidarity trip is out of respect for the beliefs of the Muslim peoples I am visiting now, but I am heartbroken that many Palestinians in Gaza are unable to eat a proper breakfast. https://t.co/FwlNyQaDuK
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 24, 2024
During Guterres' visit the day before yesterday, Saturday, to the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, he pointed out that there were long queues of trucks waiting in Rafah, while on the other side there were people suffering from famine, stressing that he looked forward to continuing to work with Egypt to facilitate the entry of aid into Gaza.
Guterres arrived in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, in his second visit to the Strip since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, and inspected the wounded Palestinians in the city’s hospital.
The Secretary-General then visited Cairo and met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. During a press conference after the meeting yesterday, Sunday, Guterres urged Israel to remove the remaining obstacles to the entry of relief materials to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, pointing out the necessity of increasing the crossings and access points for aid.
He also explained that the land route is the most effective and efficient in transporting heavy goods, stressing that the entry of aid requires an immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons.
Guterres warned of the global repercussions of the war in Gaza, and said that there is a humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and the daily assault on the dignity of the Palestinians creates a credibility crisis for the international community.
He added that terror and hunger are haunting the residents of Gaza, and any further attacks will make matters worse for the Palestinians, the detainees, and the peoples of the region.
Source: Al Jazeera + social networking sites