United Nations Secretary General António Guterres will on Tuesday, March 4 attend the Extraordinary Summit of the League of Arab States in Cairo, Egypt, a meeting meant to discuss the reconstruction of Gaza. 

Since the horrific attacks of terror by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2024, the ensuing hostilities and Israeli retaliatory attacks have unleashed an unprecedented level of death and destruction in Gaza. 

“Gaza has become a nexus of death, displacement, hunger and disease. Hospitals, schools and water facilities have been destroyed and reduced to rubble. And the risk of further destruction looms over the population,” Guterres rues.

The UN chief is upbeat that Tuesday’s summit will offer an opportunity for leaders across the Arab world to come together and discuss the elements required to deliver peace and stability in Gaza. “Their unified position will help guide the way forward.”

Nonetheless, Guterres has outlined what he says are “key priorities” towards ending the Gaza crisis. 
 
“First — the ceasefire and hostage release deal must hold. The coming days are critical. The parties must spare no effort to avoid a breakdown of this deal. I urge them to uphold their commitments and implement all of them in full. All hostages must be released immediately, unconditionally and in a dignified manner.”

Guterres says that humanitarian aid must be maintained, protected and funded, and be allowed to flow without impediment to reach people in desperate need. 

Since the ceasefire, the UN and other humanitarian bodies have been able to scale-up and expand operations in Gaza, including to areas that were unreachable during the fighting. UN partners, Guterres says, have distributed medical supplies reaching some 1.8 million people, helping health facilities continue their lifesaving work.

Second, Guterres says that ending the immediate crisis in Gaza is only but a first step. He asserts that there must be a clear political framework that lays the groundwork for Gaza’s recovery, reconstruction and lasting stability. 

This framework, he says, must be based on clear principles of staying true to the bedrock of international law, preventing any form of ethnic cleansing, and that there should be no long-term Israeli military presence in Gaza. 

According to Guterres, such a framework must strive to address Israel’s legitimate security concerns, but also make it accountable for violations of international law. 

“And it means Gaza remains an integral part of an independent, democratic and sovereign Palestinian state, with no reductions in its territory or forced transfer of its population. Both Gaza and the occupied West Bank — including East Jerusalem — must be treated as one politically, economically and administratively. And governed by a Palestinian government that is accepted and supported by the Palestinian people.”

Ideally, Guterres opines that any transitional arrangements must be designed to achieve a unified Palestinian government within a precise and limited timeframe, calling for an urgent de-escalation of the alarming situation in the West Bank.   

Unilateral actions, including settlement expansion and threats of annexation, must stop if a solution is to be found, Guterres says, as he calls for an end to attacks on civilians and their property.

Finally, Guterres says that for a lasting solution to the Gaza crisis, all stakeholders must take tangible steps towards the realisation of a two-State solution.

The Palestinian people, he adds, must have the right to govern themselves, to chart their own future, and to live on their land in freedom and security. 

“The only path to lasting peace is one where two states — Israel and Palestine — live side by side in peace and security, in line with international law and relevant UN resolutions, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states,” Guterres opines, “Palestinians deserve lasting stability and a just and principled peace. And the people of Israel deserve to live in peace and security. At this fragile moment, we must avoid a resumption of hostilities that would deepen the suffering and further destabilize a region that is already perched on a knife’s edge.”

Guterres said this in a statement on Friday, February 28.