United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the international community must not be intimidated by Israel as it pursues its devastating war on Gaza and presses ahead with a creeping annexation of the West Bank.
The strongly worded statement has once again highlighted the growing discord between the majority of the international community and Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza.
As the next UN General Assembly session draws near, and with more countries preparing to recognise the Palestinian state, Israel in response has threatened to annex the entire West Bank.
The war in Gaza is expected to remain at the top of the agenda for the session, particularly after the United States on Thursday vetoed yet another ceasefire proposal.
Guterres said, “We should not feel intimidated by the risk of retaliation, because with or without doing what we are doing, these actions would go on. At least there is a chance to mobilise the international community to put pressure on them.”
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He added, “I don’t believe we are talking about retaliation to this or that. There has been a constant progression of measures by the Israeli government to now destroy Gaza and pursue a creeping annexation in the West Bank."
The UN chief has called on Israel to hold back its fierce military assault in Gaza and to step back from the "unprecedented" assault it has threatened on Gaza City.
“I have never seen the level of death and destruction that I see in Gaza; the suffering faced by Palestinians is unimaginable. Famine, the total lack of effective health care, people living without adequate shelter in huge concentration areas,” he said.
What Israel is doing in Gaza is unprecedented and described by some as “genocide”, even as UN bodies have used such phrasing, which Israel bitterly contests.
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