UN Steps Up Gaza Cease-Fire Calls With Strongest Move Since 1971
- Guterres invokes Article 99, prompting Security Council action
- Israel’s UN ambassador accuses Guterres of ‘a new moral low’
Antonio Guterres
Photographer: Andrea Renault/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres dramatically escalated his call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, invoking the most powerful tool available to a secretary general for the first time in five decades, which prompted new efforts among Security Council members to act.
Writing to the Security Council on Wednesday, Guterres said the situation in Gaza is “fast deteriorating into a catastrophe” and that he expects public order “to completely break down soon,” which would allow even less aid to enter the region. “An even worse situation could unfold, including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement” of Gaza’s population into neighboring countries, he said.