U.N. Secretary-General Calls for Cease-fire Talks and Investigation Into Allegations of Mass Killings in Gaza

TIME

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Tuesday to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the 7-month-long war.

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00:00 "Nearly seven months after 7 October, the situation for people in Gaza is worsening

00:05 by the day. I've called consistently for a humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and

00:12 unconditional release of all hostages, and a massive surge in humanitarian aid. Unfortunately,

00:20 that has not happened yet. But negotiations are once again underway. For the sake of the

00:29 people of Gaza, for the sake of the hostages and their families in Israel, and for the

00:35 sake of the region and the wider world, I strongly encourage the Government of Israel

00:40 and Hamas leadership to reach now an agreement. Recent weeks have seen airstrikes on the Rafah

00:49 area. A military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands

00:56 more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. It would have a devastating impact

01:03 on Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions on the occupied West Bank and across the wider

01:10 region. A major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is the lack of security for humanitarians

01:16 and the people we serve. Humanitarian convoys, facilities and personnel, and people in need

01:23 must not be targets. We welcome aid delivery by air and sea, but there is no alternative

01:32 to the massive use of land routes. I again call on the Israeli authorities to allow and

01:38 facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers,

01:45 including UNRWA, throughout Gaza. We recognize the replaceable and indispensable work of

01:51 UNRWA to support millions of people in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,

01:57 Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Following the report by Ms. Catherine Colonna on mechanisms and

02:07 procedures to ensure UNRWA's adherence to the humanitarian principle of neutrality,

02:13 an action plan is being put in place to implement the recommendations of the report. I appeal

02:19 to donors, host countries and staff to cooperate with this effort.

02:23 Some hospitals now resemble cemeteries. I am deeply alarmed by reports that mass graves

02:30 have been discovered in several locations in Gaza, including Al-Shifa Medical Complex

02:36 and Nasser Medical Complex. In Nasser alone, over 390 bodies have reportedly been exhumed.

02:45 There are competing narratives around several of these mass graves, including serious allegations

02:51 that some of those buried were unlawfully killed. It is imperative that independent

02:58 international investigators with forensic expertise are allowed immediate access to

03:05 the sites of these mass graves to establish the precise circumstances under which hundreds

03:10 of Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied.

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