GAZA CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the “endless catalogue of horrors” in Gaza, as the territory’s civil defence reported at least 31 killed by Israeli forces since dawn.
Israel, whose military is preparing to conquer Gaza City, is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its offensive in the Palestinian territory, where the UN has declared a famine.
“Gaza is piled with rubble, piled with bodies and piled with examples of what may be serious violations of international law,” Guterres told journalists, calling for accountability.
Aya Daher, who was displaced from Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, said she had no shelter and was sitting outside a local hospital “just waiting for God’s mercy”.
“There were explosions all night. I was injured, my husband was injured by shrapnel, and my son was also wounded in the head. Thank God we survived, but there were martyrs,” she said.
AFP photos from the centre of Gaza showed lines of Palestinians fleeing south in vans and cars piled high with mattresses and bags.
Palestinians waiting for aid shot
Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israeli strikes and fire killed at least 31 more people across the Palestinian territory, including six shot while waiting for aid in the south.
The Israeli military said it was preparing to “expand operations against Hamas in Gaza City”.
Asked for comment, the Israeli military said it needed precise times and coordinates to look into the latest reports of 31 deaths.
The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory.
On Wednesday, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said on X that Gaza City’s evacuation was “inevitable”.
UN seeks food points’ revival
The head of the UN’s World Food Programme, meanwhile, warned that Gaza was “at breaking point” and appealed for the urgent revival of its network of 200 food distribution points.
After a visit to the territory, the WFP’s executive director Cindy McCain said she saw first-hand that “desperation is soaring”.
The UN declared a famine in Gaza last week, blaming systematic obstruction by Israel of humanitarian aid deliveries.
Israel has severely restricted the aid allowed into Gaza. Distribution has been marred by chaotic scenes, with frequent reports of starving Palestinians being shot while waiting to collect aid at one of its four distribution sites. UN rights experts voiced alarm on Thursday at reports of “enforced disappearances” at aid sites.
Visa refusal
Meanwhile, the United States said on Friday it will refuse visas to members of the Palestinian Authority to attend next month’s UN General Assembly, where France is leading a push to recognise a Palestinian state.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian Authority ahead of the upcoming UN General Assembly,” the State Department said in a statement.
Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2025