Guterres urges permanent Gaza ceasefire ahead of October 7 anniversary

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

In a statement issued on Monday, Guterres said: “It is time for the ceasefire to become permanent. It is time to allow humanitarian assistance at scale. And it is time to respect international law.” He called for a “political path to lasting peace across the whole region” so that Israelis and Palestinians can “live side by side in peace and security”.

Guterres called the Hamas attack “abhorrent”, noting it killed more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and saw 251 people taken hostage. He said Palestinians in Gaza had faced “massive loss of life, displacement and destruction”, with more than 74,200 killed according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, whose figures are deemed reliable by the UN.

He acknowledged that the brief ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump in October 2025 “brought some relief”, but said it had yet to deliver security, adequate humanitarian assistance or a credible path to recovery and peace. Israel, which still controls most of Gaza, refuses to withdraw its soldiers until Hamas’ disarmament has been verified; Hamas advocates gradual disarmament rather than immediate surrender of its arsenal.