The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, described as “unacceptable” the refusal of the Government of Israel to admit the creation of a Palestinian State, after this Thursday the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed his opposition to that idea. .
“The refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians and the denial of the right to a state for the Palestinian people is unacceptable,” Guterres said at the closing ceremony of the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala.
“This would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security, exacerbate polarization and embolden extremists everywhere,” he stressed at the Speke Convention Center, which is hosting the meeting at the south of the capital of Uganda.
Thus, the UN Secretary General insisted on his call for an immediate ceasefire, as well as the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” of the Islamic group Hamas.
“We must do everything possible to prevent this conflict from spreading to the entire region: in the West Bank, across the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon, and in Syria, Iraq and the Red Sea,” warned the UN chief. , after lamenting the deaths of civilians.
In his speech to NAM leaders, Guterres also lamented the “erosion” of democracy in the world, which has left the door open to “populism and extremism,” while poverty and social inequalities are increasing and They violate human rights with “impunity.”
Guterres made these comments two days after Israel’s prime minister expressed to the United States his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state after the Gaza war, an initiative that the White House has put on the table to resolve tensions in the region.
Netanyahu also refused a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that accepting such a measure before “achieving our objectives” would endanger Israel’s security “for generations.”
The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7 after an attack by the Islamist group that left 1,200 dead in Israeli territory and took at least 240 people hostage.
Since then, the Israeli military offensive on Gaza has caused more than 24,600 confirmed deaths among Palestinians, including thousands of children.
It is estimated that some 8,000 people are buried and dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings, in a landscape of unprecedented devastation that, according to experts, has practically not been seen since World War II (1939-1945).
Among the ranks of the Israeli Army, 194 soldiers have also died since the beginning of its ground invasion on October 27, while the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening due to the shortage of food, drinking water, basic supplies or fuel.
The war in Gaza has marked the summit of heads of state and government of the NAM, which began this Friday and where there have been numerous calls for unity for the group to demand an end to hostilities.
The NAM, one of the largest organizations of States on the planet, is made up of 53 countries in Africa, 39 in Asia, 26 in Latin America and the Caribbean and two in Europe.