UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is entering into an ldquo;age of chaosrdquo; as the UN Security Council remains sharply divided over Israelrsquo;s war on Gaza.
Guterres said he was ldquo;especially alarmedrdquo; after Israel said last week that it intends to focus its military assault in Gaza on the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million people have sought shelter.
ldquo;Such an action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,rdquo; he told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
ldquo;It is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages,rdquo; he added.
Israeli forces launched a devastating assault on Gaza with the aim to ldquo;destroyrdquo; Hamas in response to the Palestinian grouprsquo;s attack on southern Israel on October 7. At least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas attack, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel has since bombarded the territory relentlessly and launched a ground invasion, leaving much of Gaza in ruins. At least 27,708 people have been killed in the Israeli assault, according to Palestinian authorities in Gaza, and more than 80 percent of the population has been displaced.
In his address on Wednesday, Guterres also called for reforms to the Security Council, which has been unable to agree on a joint position on the war in Gaza despite calls from multiple UN agencies for an urgent ceasefire.
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ldquo;The United Nations Security Council ndash; the primary platform for questions of global peace ndash; is deadlocked by geopolitical fissures,rdquo; he said.
ldquo;This is not the first time the Council has been divided ndash; but it is the worst. Todayrsquo;s dysfunction is deeper and more dangerous.rdquo;
Guterres added that unlike during the Cold War, when ldquo;well-established mechanisms helped manage superpower relationsrdquo;, those mechanisms are gone ldquo;in todayrsquo;s multipolar worldrdquo;.
ldquo;Our world is entering an age of chaos hellip; a dangerous and unpredictable free-for-all with total impunity,rdquo; he warned.
The UN chief urged world leaders to seize the ldquo;Summit of the Futurerdquo; opportunity, which will be held in September in New York on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly, to ldquo;shape multilateralism for years to comerdquo;.
He also mentioned that as conflict grows worldwide and humanitarian needs are ldquo;at an all-time high,rdquo; funding was not ldquo;keeping pacerdquo;. —nbsp;AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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