Tensions have escalated between Israel and Palestinian factions after a strike on the Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza. Consequently, the planned quadrilateral summit in Amman involving U.S. President Joe Biden, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II was canceled.
The United Nations has raised alarms about the region’s volatile situation. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated the entire Middle East’s fate is now at risk. Speaking at the Belt and Road Initiative forum in Beijing, he emphasized that Hamas’s attacks on October 7th “cannot justify collective punishment of the Palestinian people.” He urged for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza to alleviate the severe human suffering observed.
Guterres made two “urgent humanitarian calls.” He requested Hamas to “immediately and unconditionally release hostages,” referring to 199 individuals held by the group. He also urged Israel to “allow immediate, unrestricted humanitarian aid to meet Gaza’s residents’ basic needs, primarily women and children.” Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire to provide ample time and space for assistance, highlighting the immense human suffering. He stressed that “too many lives and the fate of the entire region are at stake.”
