Condemns Murder In Gaza, UN Secretary General: Israeli Military Operations Disseminate Mass Destruction And Death Of Civilians

JAKARTA - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday denounced Israel for the "sad" deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, calling the rejection of statehood for the Palestinian people unacceptable.

"Israeli military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on an unprecedented scale during my tenure as Secretary-General," UN Secretary-General Guterres said.

"This is heartbreaking and completely unacceptable. The Middle East is a box that is flammable, we have to do everything we can to prevent the conflict from raging throughout the region," he continued.

During the war, the Israeli military had expressed regret for the deaths of civilians. However, they accused Hamas of operating in densely populated areas and using civilians as human shields. Hamas itself denies the allegations.

Secretary General Guterres further said the rejection of state status for the Palestinian people was unacceptable and such an attitude would prolong the conflict indefinitely.

His comments follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement that apparently ruled out the so-called two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the United States and a number of other countries have urged.

The Israeli prime minister's office said, in talks with US President Joe Biden on Friday, PM Benjamin Netanyahu "reaffirmed his policy, after Hamas was destroyed, Israel must maintain security control over Gaza to ensure Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel, a requirement that goes against the demands of Palestinian sovereignty".

Hamas himself said the United States ignored the suffering and deaths of Palestinians, but still supported Israel's actions financially and militarily.

In a statement on Sunday, they called the attack on October 7 a "necessary measure".

"It was a defensive measure in order to get rid of Israeli occupation, reclaim Palestinian rights and towards independence and independence," Hamas said.

Israel launched its attack on Gaza following the attack by Islamist militant group Hamas on October 7 which Israeli officials say more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed and 240 people held hostage.

On the other hand, as many as 25,105 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children, were killed and 62,681 others injured in Israeli attacks since October 7, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health on Sunday.