UNITED NATIONS, United States – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Sunday for Hamas to release all hostages and for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that the Middle East was “on the verge of the abyss”.

“Gaza is running out of water, electricity and other essential supplies,” Mr Guterres said in a statement.

The United Nations’ stocks of food, water, medical supplies and fuel in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel “can be dispatched within hours”, he continued, adding that staff “need to be able to bring these supplies into and throughout Gaza safely, and without impediment”.

He called for Hamas to release hostages “immediately” and “without conditions”.

“Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips, and they must be implemented because it is the right thing to do,” said Mr Guterres, who claimed it was his duty to make both appeals “in this dramatic moment, as we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East”.

Israel declared war on Hamas on Oct 8, a day after waves of the militant group’s fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

The subsequent relentless bombing has flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, most of them ordinary Palestinians.

Israel has cut off all water, electricity and food supplies to the densely populated coastal enclave, before resuming water to the south on Sunday.

Israel’s army has told people in the north of the Gaza Strip – nearly half of its 2.4 million population – to head south to safety, ahead of an expected ground offensive.

Aid groups have warned of a humanitarian disaster there, with around one million people displaced and Palestinians complaining of water running out.

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had confirmed 155 people have been held hostage by Hamas since its deadly attack. AFP