UN chief António Guterres condemned “clear violations of international law” in Gaza as the US added to mounting pressure on the Israeli government to pause its bombardment of the besieged coastal enclave and allow in more aid.
In his toughest remarks so far about the conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip, Guterres told the UN security council on Tuesday that the safety of civilians was paramount.
“Protecting civilians can never mean using them as human shields,” the secretary-general said, adding that it “does not mean ordering more than 1mn people to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water, no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south itself”.