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Today's Paper | May 09, 2026

Published 18 Dec, 2023 05:10pm

‘We’ve got weeks and weeks to go of this savage war’: UN aid chief

Martin Griffiths says he has seen no evidence that Israel’s assault on southern Gaza is more precise than in the north, Al Jazeera reports.

“I’ve been disappointed … We were promised this. The Americans did a lot of diplomacy on this. The truth of the matter is we have not seen it at all in the South. On the contrary, we’ve seen it grow more,” the UN’s under secretary general for humanitarian affairs told the Financial Times.

He said that last month, he had worked on a 10-point plan that included the creation of relief distribution centres and was based on greater Israeli restraint.

“I just threw it in the bin,” he said in the interview.  “I was a fool to even think that it was sensible […]  We turn around and find out the truth: the war ain’t over yet, it ain’t half over […] I don’t think we’re halfway through this yet. We’ve got weeks and weeks to go of this savage war.”

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