'Not asking for the moon': UN official pleads for Gaza ceasefire

A top United Nations official on Friday renewed calls for a "humanitarian ceasefire" to allow aid to reach the 2.2 million people trapped in the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.

"Call it what you will, but the requirement, from a humanitarian point of view, is simple. Stop the fighting to allow civilians to move safely," UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in an address to the UN General Assembly.

"We are not asking for the moon," Griffiths said. "We are asking for the basic measures required to meet the essential needs of the civilian population and stem the course of this crisis."

Griffiths also called for the release of all hostages held in Gaza without condition.

About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel during the October 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants and around 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.

In Gaza, about 11,500 people, also mostly civilians, have been killed, in a relentless Israeli campaign, officials in the Hamas-run territory have said.

"Give the people of Gaza a breather from the terrible, terrible things that have been put on them these last few weeks," Griffiths pleaded.

The call comes days after the UN Security Council called for "extended humanitarian pauses" in the Gaza Strip, the first time it has broken its silence since the start of the war.

Griffiths called for opening more border crossings into Gaza, especially the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, which was responsible for 60 percent of goods getting into the besieged territory before the start of the war.

Currently, only the Rafah border crossing with Egypt is open.

• Gaza civilians face 'immediate possibility of starvation': UN