Guterres welcomes Gaza peace deal, urges push toward two-state solution

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by the US, saying it offers a path to a two-state solution. He urged all parties to honour the agreement and ensure humanitarian access, calling the peace effort a “momentous opportunity.”

United Nations: Welcoming the Gaza peace deal, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said it opens opportunities for a lasting agreement that would lead to a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine living in peace.

“The fighting must stop once and for all, he said after US President Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to the first phase of the peace deal announced by him.

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“I urge all stakeholders to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward towards ending the occupation, recognising the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security,” he said.

Under the deal reached in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh, Hamas agreed to release the hostages it is still holding, and Israel pledged to withdraw its troops from Gaza in a phased manner.

It is the first phase of a 20-point peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.

The deal brought on the horizon an end to the two-year conflict that saw about 1,250 Israelis killed and about 67,000 Palestinians slain in the retaliatory attacks on Gaza, which Hamas runs.

Guterres urged all the parties to the deal “to abide fully by the terms of the agreement”.

“All hostages must be released in a dignified manner,” he said.

“Immediate and unimpeded entry of humanitarian supplies and essential commercial materials into Gaza must be ensured,” he added.

Israel has severely restricted — and at times totally stopped — the UN’s relief supplies going into Gaza, and UN officials have warned that famine-like conditions were developing.

Most of the health facilities and educational institutions have been destroyed there, according to the UN.

“The United Nations will support the full implementation of the agreement and will scale up the delivery of sustained and principled humanitarian relief, and we will advance recovery and reconstruction efforts in Gaza,” Guterres said.

Meanwhile, about 370 workers of the UN agency that provides relief for Palestinians, the UN Relief and Works Agency, have been killed in Gaza. The UN was reduced to a mere spectator as the Security Council, which can take action, was mired in a veto standoff by the US and Russia.

In his speech at the UN last month, Trump taunted the organisation, questioning its purpose and saying it had not lived up to its potential.

Acknowledging the proposal put forward by Trump, who complained that his peace efforts went unappreciated, Guterres said, “I commend the diplomatic efforts of the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye in brokering this desperately needed breakthrough”.

Last month at a high-level meeting convened by France and Saudi Arabia at the UN, nearly 150 countries announced or reiterated their recognition of a Palestinian state that would be the basis of the two-state solution. Trump denounced it in his UN speech, and it finds no place in his peace plan.