UN chief slams Israel’s Gaza campaign as ‘fundamentally wrong’, says war crimes look likely

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has delivered one of his strongest critiques yet of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, saying the operation has shown “total neglect” for civilian life and that there are “strong reasons” to believe Israeli forces may have committed war crimes.

Speaking at Reuters’ NEXT conference in New York, Guterres said the stated aim to destroy Hamas had not been met despite Gaza being devastated.

“Gaza is destroyed, but Hamas is not yet destroyed. So there is something fundamentally wrong with the way this is conducted,” he told Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni.

Asked directly about possible war crimes, he replied there were “strong reasons to believe that that possibility might be a reality”.

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon swiftly hit back, accusing Guterres of using his platform “to lambast and condemn Israel at every opportunity” and criticising him for not visiting Israel since the October 7 attacks.

Tensions with the UN leadership have been high for over a year. In October 2024, then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared Guterres “persona non grata” after he failed to condemn an Iranian missile strike on Israel.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the day Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 captive. Israel’s response triggered the most destructive military campaign in Gaza’s history.

A US-brokered ceasefire has technically been in place since October 10 under President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, but Gaza authorities say it has been violated at least 591 times, with 360 Palestinians killed since the truce began.

Seven Palestinians, including two children aged eight and ten, were killed on Wednesday in the latest strikes Israel says are aimed at Hamas infrastructure.

Guterres praised Washington’s role in pushing Israel to improve aid access into Gaza, noting that humanitarian delivery has “considerably improved” due to US pressure.

“They have leverage that, of course, we do not,” he said.