World News | UN Chief Calls Death and Destruction in Gaza the Worst He's Seen
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The UN chief said on Monday the United Nations has offered to monitor any cease-fire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven-year tenure.
United Nations, Sep 9 (AP) The UN chief said on Monday the United Nations has offered to monitor any cease-fire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven-year tenure.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that it's “unrealistic” to think the UN could play a role in Gaza's future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a UN role.
But he said “the UN will be available to support any cease-fire”. The United Nations has had a military monitoring mission in the Middle East, known as UNTSO, since 1948, and he said, “from our side, this was one of the hypotheses that we've put on the table”.
“Of course, we'll be ready to do whatever the international community asked for us,” Guterres said. “The question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.”
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Israel's military assault on Gaza, triggered by Hamas' attacks in southern Israel on October 7, has stretched for 11 months, with recent cease-fire talks failing to reach a breakthrough and violence in the West Bank reaching new highs.
Stressing the urgency of a cease-fire now, Guterres said: “The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the United Nations. I've never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months.”
The war has killed over 40,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 per cent 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 UN humanitarian operations in Gaza. Facing protests at home and increasing urgency from allies, Netanyahu has pushed back against pressure for a cease-fire deal and declared that “no one will preach to me”.
Looking beyond a cease-fire, Guterres stressed that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only viable, “it's the only solution”.
The United States and others support Palestinian statehood, but Netanyahu, who is leading the most conservative government in Israel's history, has opposed calls for a two-state solution.
Guterres asked rhetorically whether the alternative is viable.
“It means that you have 5 million Palestinians living there without any rights in a state,” he said. “Is it possible? Can we accept an idea similar to what we had in South Africa in the past?"
He was referring to South Africa's apartheid system from 1948 until the early 1990s when its minority white population marginalized and segregated people of colour, especially Black people.
“I do not think you can have two peoples living together if they are not in a basis of equality, and if they are not in a basis of respect — mutual respect of their rights,” Guterres said. “So the two-state solution is, in my opinion, a must if we want to have peace in the Middle East.” (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)