Guterres warns Israel's West Bank actions raise 'spectre of ethnic cleansing' in farewell UN address

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Tuesday that Israeli violence, displacement and illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank are undermining prospects for peace and raising the risk of “ethnic cleansing”. UN chief’s warning

“Violence, displacement, and settlement expansion by Israel in the occupied West Bank are bulldozing the path to peace and raising the spectre of ethnic cleansing,” Guterres told world leaders in his address to the 81st UN General Assembly in New York. “We cannot allow the two-state solution to disappear before our eyes.” Guterres’ remarks

He called the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks “abhorrent”, but said they were followed by “an onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza, with a scale of killing and destruction unlike anything I’ve witnessed in my years as secretary-general”. He recalled that the International Court of Justice had issued legally binding provisional measures in the case concerning the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip, stressing that “all parties must comply with international law and the court’s orders” and that the UN must be allowed to carry out its mandates in Gaza. Tribune/Reuters account

Israel’s response was swift. UN Ambassador Danny Danon accused Guterres of using what he described as his final address to the Assembly to deliver “a political indictment of Israel”, writing on X that the remarks were “outrageous insinuations” of ethnic cleansing. “This is not diplomacy. This is anti-Israel propaganda under the UN banner,” Danon wrote, calling for new leadership at the United Nations. Danon’s response

Turning to the wider region, Guterres said conflicts were “cascading” across the Middle East, while so-called ceasefires had amounted to “little more than ‘lesser fires’”, with civilians continuing to bear the cost. He appealed to leaders to use the high-level week for “de-escalation and dialogue”. TRT World