UN Secretary-General António Guterres marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Friday with a stark warning about the scale of human suffering in Gaza and the urgency of safeguarding the fragile ceasefire now in place.
Guterres said the commemoration comes “after two years of horrific suffering in Gaza,” where tens of thousands have been killed — nearly a third of them children — and many more injured. He described a landscape devastated by hunger, disease and trauma, with homes, schools and hospitals reduced to rubble.
The Secretary-General also condemned ongoing injustices in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, citing Israeli military operations, settler violence, settlement expansion, evictions and demolitions, as well as continued threats of annexation.
Guterres paid tribute to humanitarian workers, noting that hundreds have been killed, most of them Palestinian UN staff — the largest loss of personnel in the UN’s history. He added that more journalists have been killed in this conflict than in any other since the Second World War.
“This tragedy has tested the norms and laws that have guided the international community for generations,” he said, stressing that the killing of civilians, mass displacement and the obstruction of aid “should never be acceptable under any circumstances.”
He described the current ceasefire as a “glimmer of hope” and called on all parties to respect it fully while pursuing solutions that uphold international law. This includes, he said, the prompt and dignified return of the remains of hostages from the 7 October attacks to their families in Israel.
Guterres urged the international community to ensure the large-scale entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and reaffirmed strong support for UNRWA, calling the agency “an irreplaceable lifeline” for millions of Palestinians.
Reiterating his long-standing position, the Secretary-General called for an end to what he described as the “unlawful occupation” of the Palestinian Territory, referencing the International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly. He pressed for “irreversible progress” toward a two-State solution based on pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.
As the world marks the International Day of Solidarity, Guterres urged the global community to draw inspiration from the resilience of the Palestinian people and to stand with their rights to dignity, justice and self-determination.
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