As the tensions in West Asia continue to escalate, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that Israel could carry out “ethnic cleansing” in the Gaza Strip if the international community does not take a stand to prevent that. The proclamation from the UN chief came at a time when there were mounting civilian casualties from the Israeli bombardment of northern Gaza.
Guterres’s comments came shortly after a strike in Beit Lahiya district killed at least 93 people. UN went on to describe the attack as just one of at just one of at least seven “mass casualty incidents” across Gaza in the past week.
Amid the chaos, aid deliveries to Gaza are reported to have fallen to their lowest level since the stated of the war. Many have been claiming that Israel’s “true intention” is to drive the remaining Palestinian population out of at least part of Gaza.
UN chief issues warning
While speaking at the conference on the sidelines of the COP16 biodiversity conference in Colombia. Guterres mentioned that the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza had been prevented until now by its people’s refusal to succumb to the intense pressure to flee their homes and by Arab resolve not to accept mass population transfers.
“The intention might be for the Palestinians to leave Gaza, for others to occupy it,” Guterres told The Guardian. “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,” he added. The UN chief pledged to do everything he can to prevent a catastrophe.
“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 concluded. Last week, Jordan’s foreign secretary, Ayman Safadi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that ethnic cleansing was already happening in Gaza.
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