‘Last lifelines’ are collapsing in Gaza: UN chief

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday condemned the “accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions” in Gaza after more than 21 months of Israel’s war with Hamas.

“The last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. The United Nations chief “deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition”.

More than two dozen Western countries Monday also called for an immediate end to the war, saying that suffering had “reached new depths” as Israel’s military expanded its operations to Gaza’s central city of Deir el-Balah.

“The Secretary-General notes that the intensification of hostilities in recent days comes as the humanitarian system is being impeded, undermined and endangered,” Dujarric said.

“A new evacuation order in parts of Deir el-Balah — home to tens of thousands — pushes people into more desperate conditions and further displacement and restricts the United Nations’ ability to deliver life-saving aid.”

THE CHANGE AFTER CHURCH ATTACK

On the other hand, an Israeli army strike on the only Catholic Church in Gaza last week has pushed the Vatican to change its tone on Israel and blame it more directly in the dragging war — a break from its traditional diplomacy strategy.

The strike killed three people in the Holy Family Church in the centre of Gaza City — prompting condemnation by politicians and by religious leaders of various denominations.

Read more: Vatican hardens tone on Israel after Gaza parish strike

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday slammed the “barbarity” of the war and the blind “use of force”, denouncing “the attack by the Israeli army”.

Earlier, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had slammed the Israeli attack as “unacceptable”.

“Unacceptable attack in Gaza against the Church of the Holy Family, historically under the protection of France,” he said, alluding to a 16th-centrury accord for France to protect Catholic Christians in the Holy Land.