Diyar Guldogan
18 September 2024•Update: 19 September 2024
WASHINGTON
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that the international community is "not doing enough" in the Gaza Strip.
"I don't think it's doing enough, and our call in relation to Gaza is to put pressure to stop the war as quickly as possible and that has been our position since the beginning," Guterres said in response to a question from reporters.
Turning to international humanitarian workers, including UN personnel, Guterres said the UN insists that all humanitarian workers killed in war should lead the world “to a serious investigation and to effective accountability."
"If this is true everywhere, it is particularly true in Gaza, where the number of humanitarians killed is unparalleled. I've never seen any other part of the world in which so many people were killed.
"And I think that if there is something, the international community should be strongly committed is to put all pressure for that accountability to take place," he added.
Guterres reiterated that what is happening in Gaza is "unacceptable" and said he is "much more worried" about the "dramatic impact" in the lives of civilians, women, children, elderly people -- everywhere from Sudan, Myanmar and Gaza.
"Our position is very clear. We hope that there will be an end to this horrible war, that finally there will be a cease-fire.
"And in our opinion, it is important that that cease-fire creates the conditions for the transition for the Palestinian Authority to assume authority in Gaza, as well as in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and for that to be the basis for the construction of a two-state solution, a state of Palestine," he added.
Asked if he is planning to see Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, Guterres said he is "ready to receive" all heads of government "if they want that to happen.
"So, that question is to be asked to Prime Minister Netanyahu," he added.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,300 victims, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,500 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
