UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥� The U.N. chief said Monday that the United Nations has offered to monitor any cease-fire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven-year tenure.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that it鈥檚 鈥渦nrealistic鈥� to think the U.N. could play a role in Gaza鈥檚 future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a U.N. role.
But he said 鈥渢he U.N. will be available to support any cease-fire.鈥� The United Nations has had a military monitoring mission in the Middle East, known as UNTSO, since 1948, and he said, 鈥渇rom our side, this was one of the hypotheses that we鈥檝e put on the table.鈥�
鈥淥f course, we鈥檒l be ready to do whatever the international community asked for us,鈥� Guterres said. 鈥淭he question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.鈥�
滨蝉谤补别濒鈥檚 , triggered by on Oct. 7, has stretched for 11 months, with recent cease-fire talks failing to reach a breakthrough and violence in the West Bank .
Stressing the urgency of a cease-fire now, Guterres said: 鈥淭he level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the United Nations. I鈥檝e never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months.鈥�
The war has killed , according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza鈥檚 population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have accused the U.N. of being anti-Israel and have been highly critical of U.N. humanitarian operations in Gaza. Facing protests at home and increasing urgency from allies, Netanyahu has pushed back against pressure for a cease-fire deal and declared that 鈥渘o one will preach to me.鈥�
Looking beyond a cease-fire, Guterres stressed that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only viable, 鈥渋t鈥檚 the only solution.鈥�
The United States and others support Palestinian statehood, but Netanyahu, who is leading the most conservative government in 滨蝉谤补别濒鈥檚 history, has opposed calls for a two-state solution.
Guterres asked rhetorically whether the alternative is viable.
鈥淚t means that you have 5 million Palestinians living there without any rights in a state,鈥� he said. 鈥淚s it possible? Can we accept an idea similar to what we had in South Africa in the past?"
He was referring to South Africa鈥檚 apartheid system from 1948 until the early 1990s when its minority white population marginalized and segregated people of color, especially Black people.
鈥淚 do not think you can have two peoples living together if they are not in a basis of equality, and if they are not in a basis of respect 鈥� mutual respect of their rights,鈥� Guterres said. 鈥淪o the two-state solution is, in my opinion, a must if we want to have peace in the Middle East.鈥�
Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
