On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern over reports of the discovery of mass graves in several locations in Gaza, including the Al-Shifa and Nasser Medical Complexes, stressing the need to allow independent international investigators to access these sites.

Speaking to reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Guterres said that the war had destroyed the health system in Gaza, as two-thirds of the hospitals and health centers had stopped working, and many of the remaining ones had suffered severe damage.

He added that some Gaza hospitals have become like cemeteries. He pointed to reports of the discovery of mass graves in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, and the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, from which more than 390 bodies were reported to have been exhumed.

“There are conflicting accounts about many of these mass graves, including serious allegations that some of those buried there were unlawfully killed,” he said.

He added: "It is essential that independent international investigators, with expertise in forensic science, are allowed immediate access to the sites of these mass graves, to determine the exact circumstances in which hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied."

He stressed the need to protect hospitals, health workers and all civilians, and to respect the human rights owed to all.

Guterres renewed the call to "reach an agreement on a humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and an increase in the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza."

“Without that, I fear that the war - with all its consequences in Gaza and throughout the region - will get dramatically worse,” Guterres said. He referred to the Israeli air strikes on Rafah in recent weeks.

He said, "The Israeli military attack on the city will represent an intolerable escalation that will lead to the death of thousands of other civilians and force hundreds of thousands to flee. It will have a devastating impact on the Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions on the occupied West Bank and the entire region."

He noted that all members of the Security Council, and many other governments, had clearly expressed their opposition to such an operation.

The Secretary-General spoke about the situation in northern Gaza and said that the most vulnerable people - including sick children and people with disabilities - are dying from hunger and disease.

He stressed the need to do everything possible to avoid a completely avoidable "man-made famine."

The UN Secretary-General said that one of the main obstacles to the distribution of aid throughout Gaza is the lack of security for humanitarian workers and the people who benefit from the services.

He stressed the need not to target convoys, humanitarian facilities, humanitarian workers and those in need.

While he welcomed the delivery of aid by air and sea, the Secretary-General stressed that there is no alternative to land routes.

He once again called on the Israeli occupation authorities to provide and facilitate the safe, rapid and unhindered access of humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), to all parts of Gaza.

Guterres stressed the importance of the “indispensable and essential work of UNRWA” to support millions of people in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

While he praised the generosity of private sector donors around the world as encouraging and unprecedented, he said that the agency still faces a funding gap.

He called on Member States, both traditional and new donors, to donate generously to ensure the continuity of the Agency's operations.

He said: “UNRWA throughout the region is a source of hope and stability. Its education, health care and other services provide a sense of normalcy, safety and stability to desperate local communities.”

Regarding the settlements and the escalation of settler violence in the occupied West Bank, Guterres reiterated that the settlements are illegal in themselves and an obstacle to peace and the two-state solution.

He stated that settler violence has become one of the biggest factors exacerbating the difficult situation in the West Bank, stressing the need to ensure accountability for these actions.

The Secretary-General concluded his press statements by saying that “this is the right moment to reaffirm our hope for and our contributions to a two-state solution – the only sustainable path to peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians and the region at large.”

He affirmed the United Nations' full commitment to supporting the path to peace, on the basis of ending the occupation and establishing a fully independent, democratic, and viable Palestinian state that enjoys territorial integrity and sovereignty, of which Gaza is an integral part.