The U.N. secretary-general on Wednesday urged all parties to the Gaza war to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release, as mediators say they are in the final stages of a deal.
“For months, there has been no ceiling to the suffering and no bottom to the horrors,” Antonio Guterres told the U.N. General Assembly of the situation in Gaza during a speech laying out his 2025 United Nations priorities.
A deal is expected to see Hamas release the hostages it has held captive since the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. Israeli authorities would in turn release Palestinian prisoners and carry out a phased troop withdrawal from Gaza.
The U.N. chief said we are seeing a “reshaping” of the Middle East region, with uncertain outcomes, pointing to the future of Israel and the Palestinians but also a post-Assad Syria and a changed Iran.
“Throughout the region, we must deny extremists a veto over a peaceful future,” Guterres said of actors across the region.
The secretary-general is scheduled to depart Wednesday night for what he is calling a “solidarity” visit to Lebanon. The country, recovering from a destructive war between Hezbollah and Israel, just filled a lengthy political vacuum, electing a president who appointed a new prime minister.
“A window has opened for a new era of institutional stability, with a state fully able to protect its citizens and a system that would allow the tremendous potential of the Lebanese people to flourish,” he said. “We will do everything to help keep that window open wide — a window that will allow both Lebanese and Israelis to live in security.”
In a wide-ranging speech, Guterres warned that the world is in a period of “turmoil and grave uncertainty.” He urged the international community to rein in major challenges that threaten to disrupt progress and even “our very existence.”
“Runaway conflicts. Rampant inequalities. The raging climate crisis and out-of-control technology” are the main dangers to humanity, he said.
“The good news is that we have the plans to tackle these challenges,” he said. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel — we need to get the wheel moving.”
On Monday, Guterres will face an additional challenge: the start of a second Trump administration in the United States. During Donald Trump’s first term as president, he withdrew hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to the world body, sought to leave the Paris Climate Accord, quit the Iran nuclear deal and pulled the U.S. out of some U.N. agencies and programs.
