UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns that Israel could carry out a full-scale “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinian population in Gaza unless the international community comes together to stop it.
The UN chief’s appeal comes shortly after Israel’s bombing of northern Gaza intensified, with a growing number of actors accusing Israel of seeking to expel the remaining Palestinian population from the area.
At the same time, aid deliveries to Gaza are reported to have fallen to their lowest levels since the beginning of the war – and Israel has been repeatedly accused of not letting aid through, leading to starvation and the spread of untreated diseases.
Speaking at the ongoing COP16 conference in Colombia, the UN Secretary-General suggested that a full “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza has so far been prevented, partly because parts of the local population have refused to obey Israel’s orders to leave their homes, but also because neighboring Arab countries have so far not accepted any mass displacement of the Palestinian population either.
– The intention might be for the Palestinians to leave Gaza, for others to occupy it. But there has been – and I pay tribute to the courage and the resilience of the Palestinian people and to the determination of the Arab world – [an effort] to avoid the ethnic cleansing becoming a reality, said Guterres.
– We will do everything possible to help them remain there and to avoid ethnic cleansing that might occur if there is not strong determination from the international community, he continued.
@Keir_Starmer @KamalaHarris @macr
The UN secretary general, António Guterres has warned Israel could carry out the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza if the international community does not make a determined stand to prevent it. Will YOU make a determined stand?
— Mike (@Archon_Mike) October 31, 2024
Bombing hospitals and apartment buildings
Many observers and political leaders believe that ethnic cleansing is already taking place in Gaza – although Israel denies that it is systematically trying to force Palestinians out.
As recently as Tuesday, France and several other countries condemned the Israeli bombings, including of an apartment building in Beit Lahiya, where many children were among the 93 dead, and called for an immediate end to the siege of northern Gaza.
Even Israel’s key ally the US called the attack a “a horrifying incident with a horrifying result” – but Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, let it be known that IDF troops will “continue exerting as much [military] pressure on Hamas as possible” to free the hostages.
Israel has consistently claimed that it only attacks militant targets, and that the reason hospitals, schools and aid centers are being bombed, and women and children killed by the tens of thousands, is because Hamas is allegedly hiding among them and using them as human shields. It has also accused the UN of being an anti-Jewish “terrorist organization”.
