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14:22 GMT
MANAMA, May 16 (KUNA) -- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned on Thursday what he called the collective punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, saying the war Israeli occupation forces waged against the Palestinian enclave is horrific.
Describing the war as an "open wound," the UN chief told a pan-Arab summit in the Bahraini capital that the conflict could potentially slip into the wider region, saying the collective punishment of the Palestinians is unjustifiable.
He lamented the rising death toll of Palestinian civilians amid the violence, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the subsequent delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, while simultaneously rejecting the mere notion of an Israeli military offensive in Gaza's Rafah crossing. (pickup previous)
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