UN chief Guterres: ‘Growing international consensus to tell the Israelis that ceasefire is needed’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a visit to Jordan that there is growing international consensus to tell Israel that a ceasefire is needed and that an assault on Rafah would cause a humanitarian disaster.

“We see a growing consensus emerging in the international community to tell the Israelis that the ceasefire is needed and I also see a growing consensus, I heard in the US, I heard from the European Union, not to mention of course the Muslim world, to tell clearly to Israelis that any ground invasion of Rafah could mean a humanitarian disaster,” Guterres tells a news conference.

Israel launched its war on Hamas following the group’s devastating October 7 attack, when thousands of terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 253 people of all ages to Gaza, where more than half remain. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 32,000 people have been killed in the ensuing war, an unverified figure that does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.