United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is entering an “era of chaos,” pointing to unprecedented divisions in the UN Security Council. He also warned of serious regional repercussions of the potential Israeli attack on the city of Rafah, crowded with displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a speech he delivered before the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Guterres said, “This is not the first time the Council has been divided, but it is the worst. The current imbalance is deeper and more dangerous,” and explained that the Security Council is unable to take action in the face of the ongoing “terrible conflicts.”
Guterres said he was deeply concerned about reports that the Israeli army intends to focus on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in the next phase of its attack on the Strip.
He warned that any ground attack on Rafah – which is located on the border with Egypt and is crowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians – would have “incalculable regional repercussions,” and said that “such an action will dramatically exacerbate the situation, which is already a humanitarian nightmare, with incalculable regional repercussions.” Counted.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations renewed his demand for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and the release of all “hostages.”
Security Council
Guterres’ speech came during the UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, which was held at the request of Algeria to consider the International Court of Justice’s decision, which called on Israel to take measures to prevent any possible act of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry announced, in a statement earlier last week, that the meeting was being held “with the aim of giving binding force to the ruling of the International Court of Justice regarding the temporary measures imposed on the Israeli occupation.”
The Israeli occupation forces intensified their bombing of the last two shelters for displaced people in the Gaza Strip by intensively targeting Rafah in the south of the Strip and Deir al-Balah in its centre, resulting in the martyrdom of hundreds of Palestinians, and increasing fears that Israel will expand the scope of its ground operation in the two cities crowded with displaced people.
Tens of thousands of displaced people have arrived in Rafah since last week due to the intense Israeli aggression on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The occupation army had previously declared Rafah a “safe zone” and ordered the residents of the north to flee there. According to the United Nations, the number of displaced people in the Egyptian border city is more than 1,300,000.
