ADDIS ABABA — United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged the international community on Monday to reject hunger as a weapon of war.

 

UN agencies have been warning of life-threatening hunger in Gaza as aid supplies dried up, and international pressure has been building for a ceasefire to allow a massive relief operation.

 

"Climate change is disrupting harvests, supply chains, and humanitarian aid. Conflict continues to spread hunger from Gaza to Sudan and beyond," Guterres told a UN conference in Ethiopia by video.

 

"Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war," the UN chief added said.

 

In the Gaza Strip, the war-shattered Palestinian territory is gripped by dire humanitarian conditions created by 21 months of war and made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May.

 

Israel said Monday that more than 120 truckloads of food aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies in the Gaza Strip on the first day of a partial pause in fighting.

 

On Sunday, Israel declared a "tactical" pause in military operations in part of Gaza and promised to open secure routes for aid, urging humanitarian groups to step up food distribution.

 

The United Nations said it would try to reach as many starving people as possible in Gaza after Israel announced it would establish secure land routes for humanitarian convoys.

 

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said it had enough food in, or on its way to, the region to feed the 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip for almost three months.

 

UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher said the United Nations would try to reach "as many starving people as we can" in the time window.