Gaza becoming "a graveyard for children" – UN Secretary General

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that the Gaza Strip was becoming a "graveyard for children," as he urged an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war on the besieged enclave.

Since the start of aggressions on 7 October, Israel's relentless and indiscriminate airstrikes on Gaza have killed 10,328 Palestinians, of which 4,237 were children, according to local health ministry.

Guterres also lamented the killings of media workers. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 37 journalists and media workers have been killed within the past month.

Guterres made the remarks during a formal launch for a recently-announced $1.2bn UN humanitarian appeal to help 2.7 million Palestinians over the entire Gaza Strip as well as parts of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Aid trucks have been coming into Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, but the level remains well below that of before 7 October.