New York, 23 December 2023 (dpa/MIA) - UN Secretary General António Guterres has paid tribute to the United Nations staff killed in the Gaza war.

"136 of our colleagues in Gaza have been killed in 75 days – something we have never seen in UN history," Guterres wrote on the online platform X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday. "Most of our staff have been forced from their homes."

"I pay tribute to them & the thousands of aid workers risking their lives as they support civilians in Gaza," Guterres wrote.

In another post, Guterres once again criticized Israel's actions in the conflict. "The way Israel is conducting this offensive is creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza," he wrote.

In order to effectively bring humanitarian aid to Gaza security and staff who can work in safety are needed, he wrote.

After days of wrangling, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Friday calling for an increase in humanitarian aid for around 2 million people in need in the Gaza Strip. However, the most powerful UN body adopted a compromise text in New York without the demand for an immediate truce that Guterres had hoped for.

The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Palestinian militant Hamas movement and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7. Israel responded with massive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and began a ground offensive at the end of October.

In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed-off coastal area, Israel has recently come under increasing international pressure.

Photo: MIA Archive