UN Chief Urges World Not to Be Intimidated by Israel’s Actions in Gaza, West Bank
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in an interview with AFP on Friday, called on the international community not to be intimidated by Israel as it continues its devastating war in Gaza and pursues what he described as a "creeping" occupation of the West Bank.
Amid reports that Israel has threatened to annex the West Bank if Western nations recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN high-level gathering in New York, Guterres emphasized, “We should not feel intimidated by the risk of retaliation, because with or without doing what we are doing, these actions would go on and at least there is a chance to mobilize the international community to put pressure for them not to happen.”
He criticized Israel’s actions, stating, “I don’t think we are talking about retaliation in relation to this or that. There has been a constant progress of the measures of the Israeli government in order to now completely destroy Gaza and have a creeping annexation in the West Bank.”
Guterres, who has been vocal in urging Israel to restrain its intense military campaign in Gaza and avoid an “unprecedented” assault on Gaza City, described the situation as catastrophic. “It is the worst level of death and destruction that I’ve seen in my time as secretary general, probably my life, and the suffering of the Palestinian people cannot be described—famine, total lack of effective health care, people living without adequate shelters in huge concentration areas.”
While refraining from labeling Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide”—a term used by some UN bodies but fiercely contested by Israel—Guterres clarified, “The problem is that it’s not in my functions to do the legal determination of genocide. It’s not in my power. But let’s be clear, the problem is not the word. The problem is the reality on the ground.”
This week, Israel’s military launched a ground assault in Gaza on Tuesday, urging residents to move south. However, many Palestinians report that the journey is prohibitively expensive and they lack safe destinations.
