TOKYO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City.
“It is vital to reach immediately a ceasefire in Gaza,” that was necessary “to avoid the death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause,” Guterres said in Japan where he is attending the Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians. Israel currently holds about 75 percent of the Gaza Strip.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s military offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave’s health ministry.
