United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged “rapid, unimpeded humanitarian access” to the besieged Gaza Strip, as Israel kept up its retaliation for Hamas’ October 7 attack, AFP reports.

“We need food, water, medicine and fuel now. We need it at scale and we need it to be sustained, it is not one small operation that is required,” Guterres said in Cairo, as calls mounted for aid to reach the territory’s 2.4 million people.

“In plain terms, that means humanitarians need to be able to get aid in and they need to be able to distribute it safely,” he said.