By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

UN Chief Antonio Guterres criticized Israel for its handling of the war on Gaza stressing that nothing justifies the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza who are enduring unimaginable suffering.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed Israel on Monday for imposing a ‘collective punishment’ on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip stressing that nothing justifies it.

“It is unimaginable, the level of suffering in Gaza, the level of deaths and destruction have no parallel in everything I’ve witnessed since (becoming) secretary-general,” Guterres who assumed office in 2017 was quoted as saying by France 24.   

While the UN chief deplored the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on October 7, describing it as in “violation of international humanitarian law”, he nonetheless, criticized Israel’s handling of the war on Gaza.

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“But the truth is that nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, and that is what we are witnessing in a dramatic way in Gaza,” he added, decrying the widespread carnage and hunger blighting Gaza, according to France 24.

Guterres demanded “accountability” for all civilian deaths while stressing that “serious violations” have been committed by both sides during the nearly one-year-old war.

The UN chief expressed hope despite the obstacles facing the ceasefire and swap negotiations between Hamas and Israel, admitting at the same time that “they are endless,” as quoted by France 24.

Suffering of People

As the UN prepares to host world leaders for the General Assembly’s high-level week starting next Sunday, the UN chief expressed little hope of a potential meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has refused to take his calls since October last year.  

“As far as I understand, it was already said publicly that it is not his intention to ask for any meeting with me. So of course, the meeting will very probably not take place,” Guterres said as reported by France 24.

“What matters is not the question of a phone call or no phone call, a meeting or no meeting — what matters is what happens on the ground. What matters is the suffering of people,” the UN chief reportedly stressed.

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“What matters is the constant denial of the two-state solution and the undermining of that two-state solution by the different actions that are taking place on the grounds,” he added according to France 24.

The UN chief slammed the actions of Israeli occupation authorities in the West Bank that undermine the two-state solution.

“With grabbing of land, with evictions, with the new settlements being built – all illegally and in the context of an occupation that now, according to the International Court of Justice’s opinion, is in itself also illegal,” Guterres said according to France 24.

The top UN diplomat stated that the “surveillance mission’ he had backed to supervise a future ceasefire seems “improbable” since the concerned parties are unlikely to back it up.

High UN Casualties

Antonio Guterres has recently condemned the killing of at least 18 people, including six UNRWA staff members, in Israeli airstrikes on a school serving as a shelter in the Nuseirat refugee camp of central Gaza.

The airstrikes that took place on September 11 raised the number of UNRWA staff killed to 220 since October 7, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a press briefing the following day.

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“The continued lack of effective protection for civilians in Gaza is unconscionable,” Dujarric read from a statement.

“Civilians and the infrastructure they rely on must be protected and meet the essential needs of the civilian population,” he added.

Ongoing Genocide

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 41,252 Palestinians have been killed, and 95,497 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

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Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

 The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(The Palestine Chronicle)