UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the international community’s indifference to Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, calling widespread starvation a “moral crisis” and urging immediate action to alleviate suffering and restore basic human rights.

In a virtual address on Friday, Guterres warned that the crisis in the Gaza Strip has escalated beyond humanitarian dimensions.

“I cannot explain the level of indifference and inaction we see by too many in the international community, the lack of compassion, the lack of truth, the lack of humanity,” Guterres said.

“This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a moral crisis that challenges the global conscience. We will continue to speak out at every opportunity,” the UN chief added.

“Children speak of wanting to go to heaven, because at least, they say, there is food there. We hold video calls with our own humanitarians who are starving before our eyes ... But words do not feed hungry children.”

Guterres also condemned the killing of more than 1,000 Palestinians who tried to access food aid supplies since May 27, when the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations.

He emphasized that the United Nations was ready to “dramatically scale up humanitarian operations” in Gaza should Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas reach a ceasefire agreement.

Aid groups have warned that since the Israeli regime put Gaza under blockade, cases of starvation, particularly among children, in the war-ravaged territory are increasing.

The trickle of aid that enters the region is being controlled by the Israel-US-backed GHF Gaza, which has replaced the longstanding UN-led distribution systems.

Aid groups and the United Nations have refused to work with the GHF, saying it is aiding the Israeli military.

International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric said on Friday that “there is no excuse for what is happening in Gaza.”

“The scale of human suffering and the stripping of human dignity have long exceeded every acceptable standard, both legal and moral,” he added.

Spoljaric said the ICRC has more than 350 staff in Gaza, “many of whom are also struggling to find enough food and clean water.”

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the total number of starvation deaths in the territory has reached 123, 83 of whom are children.

Since the Israeli regime began its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, it has murdered more than 59,676 Palestinians and wounded 143,965, most of them children and women.