The UN chief calls the death and destruction in Gaza the worst he’s seen
UNITED NATIONS — The UN chief said Monday that the United Nations has offered to monitor any ceasefire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven years in office.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that it is “unrealistic” to think the U.N. could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by governing the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a U.N. role.
But he said “the UN will be available to support any ceasefire.” The United Nations has had a military observer mission in the Middle East since 1948, known as UNTSO, and he said “on our side, this was one of the hypotheses that we put on the table.”
“Of course we are prepared to do what the international community asks us to do,” Guterres said. “The question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.”
Israel’s military attack on Gazacaused by Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7, has lasted 11 months, with recent ceasefire talks failing to achieve a breakthrough and violence escalating in the West Bank reach new heights.
Guterres stressed the urgency of a ceasefire now, saying: “The level of suffering we are seeing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as Secretary-General of the United Nations. I have never seen the level of death and destruction that we have seen in Gaza in recent months.”
The war has killed more than 40,900 Palestiniansaccording to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused massive destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have accused the UN of being anti-Israel and have been highly critical of the UN’s humanitarian operations in Gaza. Faced with protests at home and growing urgency from allies, Netanyahu resisted pressure for a ceasefire, declaring that “no one will preach to me.”
Guterres stressed that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only feasible but “the only solution,” as he looks beyond a ceasefire.
The United States and other countries support a Palestinian state, but Netanyahu, who leads the most conservative government in Israel’s history, resists calls for a two-state solution.
Guterres rhetorically questioned whether the alternative is viable.
“It means that there are 5 million Palestinians living there without any rights in a state,” he said. “Is that possible? Can we accept an idea similar to what we had in the past in South Africa?”
He was referring to the apartheid system in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s, when the white minority population marginalized and segregated people of color, especially black people.
“I don’t think you can have two peoples living together if they’re not living on the basis of equality, and if they’re not living on the basis of respect — mutual respect for their rights,” Guterres said. “So the two-state solution, in my view, is a must if we want peace in the Middle East.”