Pep Guardiola calls for more attention on Gaza suffering

MANCHESTER, England:

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has urged people not to ignore the suffering in Gaza amid Israel's military campaign and longstanding blockade of the territory.

"It's so painful, what we see in Gaza. It hurts me all (over) my body," the Spanish coach said in a speech at the University of Manchester, where he was given an honourary degree on Monday.

"It's not about ideology. It's not about, I'm right or you're wrong. Come on. It is just about the love of life, about the care of your neighbour," Guardiola said.

Guardiola was honoured for his sporting success with City and for his "inspirational work away from football, including through his family foundation, the Guardiola Sala Foundation," the university said on its website.

It made no mention of Guardiola's speech regarding the situation in Gaza, where more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed during the 20-month-long war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants.

"Maybe we think that we see the boys and girls of four years old being killed (by) a bomb or being killed at the hospital because it's not a hospital anymore, it's not our business," Guardiola said. "But be careful. The next one will be ours. The next four- or five-year-old kids will be ours. Sorry, but I see my kids, Maria, Marius and Valentina, when I see every morning since the nightmare started for the infants in Gaza, and I'm so ... scared."

The current war was ignited by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7, 2023, when 251 hostages were taken.

Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israel has restricted and sometimes blocked all aid into Gaza, including food, fuel and medicine.

Experts say that policy has pushed Gaza toward famine.

Israel says Hamas siphons off the aid to bolster its rule. - AP