A dozen UN Security Council envoys were due to visit the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, just days after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned thousands of people in the besieged Palestinian enclave were “simply starving,” Reuters reports.
The United Arab Emirates arranged the trip to Rafah —where limited humanitarian aid and fuel deliveries have crossed into Gaza— as the 15-member council negotiates a UAE-drafted resolution that demands the warring parties “allow the use of all land, sea and air routes to and throughout” Gaza for aid.
It would also establish a UN-run aid monitoring mechanism in Gaza Strip. It was not immediately clear when the draft resolution could be put to a vote.
UAE UN Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said the aim of the visit was “to learn first-hand what is needed in terms of a humanitarian operations scale-up that meet the needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza.” She noted it was not an official Security Council visit.
