UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of “dangerous” divisions within the Security Council over Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, expressing concerns that the world is entering an “age of chaos.”
Guterres made the remarks during a speech at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, as the Security Council remains deeply divided on how to address Israel’s ongoing aggression against Gaza, which is entering its fifth month.
“The United Nations Security Council – the primary platform for questions of global peace – is deadlocked by geopolitical fissures,” the UN chief said.
“This is not the first time the council has been divided – but it is the worst. Today’s dysfunction is deeper and more dangerous,” he added.
Guterres went on to say that unlike during the Cold War, when “well-established mechanisms helped manage superpower relations,” those mechanisms are missing “in today’s multipolar world.”
“Our world is entering in an age of chaos… a dangerous and unpredictable free-for-all with total impunity,” he warned.
The UN chief also urged world leaders to seize the “Summit of the Future” opportunity, which will be held in September, to “shape multilateralism for years to come,” while calling for reform of the international financial system as conflict grows worldwide.
Guterres further expressed concern over Israel’s intention to focus its war in Gaza on the southern city of Rafah.
“Such an action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,” he said, stressing that it is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all captives.
The Israeli regime has pressed on with its genocidal campaign and threatened a new ground assault on Rafah, where over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are now living, mostly in makeshift tents.
About 1.4 million people are sheltering in Rafah after being ordered there by Israeli forces, which previously described the area as a “safe zone.”
Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 27,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 67,000 others.
The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
