Guterres: Level of suffering in Gaza Strip is unimaginable

New York, (ST) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that nothing justifies the crimes of collective punishment committed by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinians in Gaza Strip.

Guterres said in an interview with AP, commenting on the Israeli aggression on the Strip: This is unimaginable, the level of suffering in Gaza, the level of death and destruction, is nonparallel to anything I have witnessed since I became Secretary-General in 2017.

Describing the destruction, hunger and diseases witnessed by the besieged Strip, Guterres said that the truth is that nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, and this is what we are witnessing dramatically in Gaza.

Guterres referred to the widespread violations committed by “Israel,” renewing the call for an immediate ceasefire.

Guterres criticized the continued denial by the Israeli authorities of a solution that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state through the imposition of various measures on the ground, saying that the ongoing evacuations and the construction of new settlements are all illegal measures, and now, according to the opinion of the International Court of Justice itself, they are also illegal.

The Secretary-General said that the proposed monitoring mission he supports to supervise any future ceasefire seems “unlikely” as it is unlikely to be approved by all parties.

Responding to accusations that the United Nations is unable to curb conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere, Guterres said that the UN Security Council and international financial institutions are outdated, dysfunctional and unfair.

He added: We have tried to find solutions to wars, but the problem is that we do not have the capacity, and sometimes the resources that enable us to do so.