Guterres says the Gaza clock is “ticking louder than ever”

United Nations

Sphinx News: Ahmed Ali

Addressing the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, UN Secretary-General Guterres remained in a pejorative attitude on the “continued grave suffering” in Gaza and the ongoing expansion of illegal settlements within the Occupied West Bank.

Reaffirming staunch and full-fledged support for the New York Declaration and its annexes, endorsed by the General Assembly last year for UNGA 80, the declaration was celebrated for its tangible, irreversible steps at galvanizing political momentum for a “peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question.” Chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, the declaration supported the notion of an existing Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, where the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem would be formally recognized as sovereign territories within a Palestinian state, to be governed by a unified Palestinian government. The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly, 142–10, in favor of the notion, emblematic of the international community’s joint initiative.

While Trump’s 20-point plan has been largely supported by the international community as a probable outline for the implementation of the New York Declaration, the Secretary-General posits that the situation on the ground remains dire, suggesting that the current diplomatic efforts risk being yet another amorphous plan, a mere trope in the endless efforts, brutal history, and systematic repression of the Palestinian people. Where the Secretary-General has often critiqued member states as being acquiescent to the plight of the Palestinians, the New York Declaration “offers a platform to galvanize long-overdue progress.”

With contempt, however, he speaks of the ongoing situation in Gaza as deplorable, noting, “since the October agreement, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed.” In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Guterres recalls an arena where Israeli impunity remains, stating, “In the occupied West Bank, relentless illegal settlement expansion, demolitions, displacement, and evictions are accelerating.” He adds, “more than 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank in 2025 alone – a year that also saw record-high levels of Israeli settler violence.” Guterres mentions Israeli policy accelerating the expansion of illegal settlements, where in 2025 alone, approximately “3,401 housing units in the E1 area – alongside continued demolitions – have been built.” He holds the developments to be “profoundly alarming, only working to undermine a credible two-state solution.”

In Occupied East Jerusalem, Guterres speaks of “entrenched racial discrimination” against the now demographically challenged Palestinian inhabitants, where efforts to combat such systemic repression are actively being curtailed by the Israeli administration and the IDF. The demolition of UNRWA facilities in the Occupied Jerusalem not only constitutes a grave contravention and illicit behavior under international law, but circumscribes efforts to assist the Palestinian people there. Guterres additionally condemns “public threats by officials of Israel against the staff of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East),” adding that such treatment is ill-natured and “utterly abhorrent…to be met with unequivocal repudiation.”

Drifting farther and farther away from a two-state solution, Guterres urges not only maximum restraint, but more effort from members of the international community. Where silence is now complicity, Guterres calls on “Member States to continue to politically support it and to financially sustain” UNRWA, additionally urging states to adopt mechanisms and provisions pressuring the Israeli government into conformity. In final remarks to the committee, Guterres leaves the following messages: “The occupation must end, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice. The inalienable rights of the Palestinian people must be realized. International law must be respected, and accountability ensured. The unity, contiguity, and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory must be preserved. The path must be opened for a just lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis. There is only one viable route: the two-State solution in line with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions. A solution with Israel and a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, viable, and sovereign Palestinian State, of which Gaza is an integral part – living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States.”