United Nations Secretary General António Guterres told reporters during a briefing held at an UNRWA school in Beit Lahiya in Gaza on Wednesday (August 30) that he was “deeply moved” to be in the region “unfortunately, to witness one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises that I have seen in many years working as a humanitarian in the United Nations — and deeply impressed by the suffering of the Gaza people in these tragic circumstances.”
In fact, Guterres was so impressed that he said he ordered the “immediate release of $4 million to support the activities of the United Nations staff that is working for the benefit of the Gaza people in these tragic circumstances.”
But as he went on to say, the solution for the problems of the people of Gaza is not humanitarian.
The secretary-general also declined to mention that just three years ago terror rockets were fired at Israeli civilians from a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) girls school in the very same Gaza community — Beit Lahiya — on August 23, 2014.
Guterres instead pointed out that although the Palestinian Authority is supposedly comprised of PA-controlled regions of Judea and Samaria as well as Gaza, there are two entirely separate governments ruling from Ramallah and Gaza City. He underlined the necessity of bringing the two together under a unified banner in order to accomplish anything in the world of global politics.
“So I appeal for the unity in line with the principles of the Palestinian Liberation Organization,” he said. “The division only undermines the cause of the Palestinian people.”
His second appeal the reprise of “a dream” that he shared earlier in the week with Israeli officials, and with Palestinian Authority leaders in Ramallah as well — “a dream to one day see the Holy Land with two states, Israel and Palestine, living in peace and security together.
“I have appealed for a credible political process in order to address the problems that exist and to allow for the two-state solution to be implemented, removing the obstacles on the ground. But, at the same time, together with that political process, a program of action to improve the living conditions of the Palestinian people,” Guterres said.
“It is important to open the closures, in line with resolution 1860 of the Security Council. It is important to avoid the buildup of the militantism that can undermine the confidence between the two people,” he added, clearly pairing the sweet with the distasteful.
“And being in Gaza, allow me to express my dream in a different way: the dream to be able to come back to Gaza one day and to see Gaza as part of a Palestinian state in peace, with prosperity and welfare for the people of this wonderful place.”