Guterres The Security Council needs serious reform of its composition and work platform (Reuters)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that nothing justifies collective punishment of the Palestinian people, warning that the Israeli attack on Rafah would end humanitarian aid programs in Gaza, while the Iranian, Chinese and British Foreign Ministry all called for measures to end the war in the Strip.

Guterres explained - in a speech before the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday - that international humanitarian law is under threat, and tens of thousands of civilians are being killed in Gaza, noting that the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is essential in distributing aid within the Strip.

Guterres also called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of detainees, explaining that the comprehensive Israeli attack on Rafah "will put the final nail in the coffin of aid programs."

"Deadly undermining"

The Secretary-General of the United Nations added that the UN Security Council needs serious reform of its composition and work platform, and that the Council’s “lack of unity to stop what is happening in Gaza and Ukraine has fatally undermined the Council’s authority,” pointing out that the world is moving toward multipolarity, “but without institutions, which causes chaos,” he said.

For his part, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, strongly condemned today in Geneva “disinformation campaigns and other attacks aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the United Nations and its work.”

At the opening of the 55th annual session of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Turk said that these campaigns “target United Nations humanitarian organizations, international peacekeeping forces, and my office,” noting that “the United Nations has become a target for misleading propaganda.”

Constant invitations

While the Chinese Foreign Ministry said today that the United States must “take measures to play a constructive role to end the war in Gaza and alleviate the humanitarian crisis,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that “Washington does not have the will to stop the war in Gaza, and it is talking about reducing the intensity of the war, not stopping it.” .

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian explained that what he called the wrong approaches made political efforts to end the crisis in Gaza “futile,” noting that the humanitarian conditions in the Strip are worrying and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats to invade Rafah “increase the depth of the disaster.”

#Urgent |

Iranian Foreign Minister: The humanitarian conditions in Gaza are worrying and Netanyahu’s threats to invade #Rafah increase the depth of the disaster #Gaza_War pic.twitter.com/gMKmSMdFTl

- Al Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) February 26, 2024

In turn, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said today that there is a need to stop the fighting immediately to ensure the release of detainees and the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, noting that organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund must be enabled “to carry out their vital work effectively.”

"Economic influence"

On the other hand, European Parliament member Mounir Satori said that they can stop the Israeli attacks on Gaza and illegal settlement policies in the West Bank and Jerusalem through the European Union’s influence on the Israeli economy.

Satori, who is of Moroccan origin, explained that describing Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide" does not require individual assessment, stressing that the compass must be international law.

The European parliamentarian added - in an interview with Anatolia - that Europe has important working tools, and it can suspend the association agreement with Israel, in addition to imposing an arms embargo, saying, “Selling weapons makes us participants in the cause of people’s suffering,” indicating the possibility of imposing individual sanctions on leaders. Israeli politicians and against settlers who seize Palestinian lands and homes.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies