Israeli Attack Kills UN Staff And Aid Workers In Gaza, UN Secretary General: Unreceived

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres while attending the UN DK meeting. (Source: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

JAKARTA - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the lack of accountability for the assassination of UN staff and humanitarian aid workers in the Gaza Strip was "completely unacceptable."

Ahead of the annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly later this month, Secretary General Guterres concluded last year as "very difficult, very difficult."

The war in Gaza dominated, which began just two weeks after leaders left New York, following last year's meeting when Palestinian Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and held about 250 people hostage in a cross-border attack on Israel, according to Israeli tallies.

Drawing Israel's retaliation against Hamas in Gaza, which has so far killed at least 41,084 Palestinians and injured 95,029 others, according to Gaza's health ministry, Secretary General Guterres said there had been "a very dramatic violation of international humanitarian law and absolutely no effective protection for civilians."

"What happened in Gaza is completely unacceptable," he told Reuters.

The Israeli military said it was taking steps to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, claiming at least a third of Palestinian casualties in Gaza were militants. Not only that, but Israel also accused Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as human shields, an accusation Hamas denies.

Nearly 300 humanitarian aid workers, more than two-thirds of whom were UN staff, were also killed during the conflict, according to the United Nations. Secretary General Guterres said there must be effective investigations and accountability for their deaths.

"We have a court, but we see that court decisions are not respected, and this kind of accountability uncertainty is completely unacceptable and also requires serious reflection," said Secretary General Guterres.

The UN supreme court - the International Court - said in July Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements was illegal and had to be withdrawn.

It is known that the 193-member UN General Assembly is likely to vote next week over a draft resolution, which will give Israel a six-month deadline to do so.

Secretary General Guterres said he had not spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who had long accused the United Nations of being anti-Israeli - since the Hamas deadly attack in Israel on October 7 last year.

The two last met face-to-face at the United Nations a year ago. Secretary General Guterres said he would do it again, if Netanyahu asked.

"I haven't spoken to him yet because he didn't pick up my phone, but I have no reason not to talk to him," said Secretary General Guterres. "So if he came to New York asking to meet me, I would be very happy to meet him," he said.