Gaza ceasefire: Displaced Palestinians return to destroyed homes as aid is delivered to strip – live updates
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The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said the Middle East is undergoing a “profound transformation” and has urged all countries to ensure the region emerges from the turbulence with peace and “a horizon of hope grounded in action.”.
![[António Guterres addresses to members of the security council in New York.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/dfe3e22a20dcf3d9323b850e3882026862c63398/0_317_6000_3600/master/6000.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Speaking at a meeting of the UN security council on Monday, he said that “a new dawn is rising in Lebanon,” which he just visited. He said it was vital that Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army deploy there as required in the ceasefire agreement.
![[A Palestinian woman carries an aid box provided by Unrwa in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d6cc6a30d5876f5c8dc076e8c8eabb878d642510/0_139_5500_3300/master/5500.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In Gaza, he urged Israel and Hamas to ensure that their newly agreed deal leads to a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages taken during the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
Guterres said the ceasefire must allow scaled-up aid deliveries, Palestinians’ access to aid, and protection of civilians. He stressed that the agreement must also allow Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, access to deliver aid to the devastated territory.
Israel’s government is still committed to its plan to ban Unrwa from operating and to cut all ties between the agency and the Israeli government. It has accused the UN agency of allowing Hamas militants to infiltrate its staff, an allegation the agency denies. Unrwa is the major distributor of aid in Gaza and provides education, health and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
