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The United Nations’ humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has issued a stark plea to the UN Security Council to take immediate and decisive action to prevent what he described as a potential genocide in Gaza.
Fletcher, who serves as the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, condemned Israel’s ongoing military offensive and the blockade of humanitarian aid, which he said was subjecting civilians in Gaza to inhumane conditions and mass suffering.
“For those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need now?” Fletcher asked during an emergency briefing on Tuesday. “Will you act — decisively — to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?”
He accused Israel of “deliberately and unashamedly” imposing cruel conditions on the people of Gaza, pointing out that aid deliveries were being obstructed, despite UN agencies having life-saving supplies waiting at the border.
Fletcher criticised Israel’s proposed terms for aid access as a “cynical sideshow,” suggesting it turned starvation into a bargaining chip. “A deliberate distraction. A fig leaf for further violence and displacement. If any of this still matters, have no part in it,” he said.
He added that the aid proposal “practically excludes” vulnerable groups such as the disabled, women, children, the elderly, and the injured.
Five European members of the Security Council — France, the UK, Slovenia, Greece, and Denmark — issued a joint statement expressing deep concern about Israel’s proposed humanitarian plan, warning it failed to meet basic humanitarian principles. “Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool or a military tactic,” they said.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, strongly rejected Fletcher’s accusations, calling them “baseless and outrageous.”
Fletcher warned that by the time the International Court of Justice reaches a decision on whether Israel’s actions constitute genocide, it may be too late for those still enduring the conflict.
On Tuesday, Israeli air strikes continued across Gaza. At least 28 people were killed in one strike near a hospital in the south of the territory, according to local rescue teams. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch a full-force ground assault in Gaza in the coming days. The current phase follows Israel breaking an agreed ceasefire two months ago.
The conflict intensified in October 2023 after a Hamas-led attack reportedly killed 1,218 people in Israel, according to Israeli figures. Israel has since launched a relentless military bombardment in Gaza that has so far killed at least 52,908 people — mainly civilian women and children — according to the health ministry in Gaza, whose data is regarded as reliable by the UN.
Israel has also targeted civilian infrastructure, including roads, hospitals, schools, and homes, arguing, without proof, that Hamas fighters were using such locations for cover.
“I can tell you from having visited what’s left of Gaza’s medical system that death on this scale has a sound and a smell that does not leave you,” said Fletcher. “As one nurse described it: ‘children scream as we peel burnt fabric from their skin.’”
Fletcher closed his address with a stark warning to the Security Council: “For those who will not survive what we fear is coming — in plain sight — it will be no consolation to know that future generations will hold us in this chamber to account. But they will. And, if we have not seriously done all we could, we should fear that judgment.”
