UN urges end to Gaza aid block

United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher on Tuesday called on the UN Security Council to take action “to prevent genocide” in Gaza, delivering a scathing account of Israel's actions in the Palestinian territory.

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Mr Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, demanded that Israel lift its aid blockade on Gaza, where its offensive has killed tens of thousands and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.

"For those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need now?" he asked. "Will you act — decisively — to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?"

He alleged that Israel was “deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Mr Fletcher said UN agencies had “life-saving supplies” ready to deliver at the borders but were denied access by Israel. He also decried Israel's conditions for allowing aid delivery as “a cynical sideshow.”