UN Chief António Guterres Says Israel’s War in Gaza “Fundamentally Wrong,” Raises War Crimes Concerns:

António Guterres has strongly criticised how Israel has carried out its war in Gaza, calling the approach “fundamentally wrong” and saying there are “strong reasons” to believe Israeli forces may have committed war crimes. Guterres made these remarks on Wednesday during an interview with Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni at the NEXT conference in New York. He said the Israeli military campaign showed “total neglect” for civilian life and caused massive destruction across Gaza. According to him, Israel’s stated goal was to destroy Hamas, but instead, Gaza itself has been devastated while Hamas has not been eliminated. “Gaza is destroyed, but Hamas is not yet destroyed. So there is something fundamentally wrong with the way this is conducted,” he said. When asked directly whether Israeli forces may be guilty of war crimes, Guterres replied that there are “strong reasons to believe” this could be true. His comments immediately drew criticism from Israel. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, accused Guterres of constantly criticising Israel while ignoring its suffering. He said the UN chief uses his “elevated platform to lambast and condemn Israel at every opportunity.” Danon added that the real failure is that more than two years after the October 7 attack, Guterres has still not visited Israel. Relations between Israel and the UN chief have been tense for more than a year. In October 2024, Israel declared Guterres “persona non grata” after accusing him of supporting terrorists because he did not strongly condemn Iran’s missile attack on Israel at the time. Since October 7, 2023, more than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to local authorities. The war began after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In response, Israel launched a massive military operation across the Gaza Strip. A fragile ceasefire, part of a 20-point peace plan pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has been in place since October 10. However, Israeli forces have repeatedly been accused of violating the truce. Gaza officials say Israel has broken the ceasefire at least 591 times, killing 360 Palestinians and injuring nearly 1,000 others. The latest violation came on Wednesday, when seven Palestinians—including two children aged eight and ten—were killed in Israeli attacks. In the interview, Guterres also noted that humanitarian conditions in Gaza have improved “considerably” in recent weeks. He credited the U.S. for using its influence to pressure Israel to allow more aid into the territory. “They have leverage that we [the UN] do not,” he said, praising the cooperation between Washington and the UN on humanitarian efforts. Despite this, Israel still restricts the entry of aid. A key part of Trump’s peace plan requires Israel to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza and to reopen the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border. Instead, Israel announced on Wednesday that the crossing would soon open only for people leaving Gaza, raising fears of forced displacement. Some far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have openly supported permanently removing Palestinians from Gaza.

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