UN Secretary General’s statement on the conflict

October 2023

The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, created an international diplomatic storm when he called for a ceasefire in the Middle East. If such a ceasefire was agreed it would prevent – at least technically – Israel’s stated intention to enter Gaza and eliminate Hamas as a terror organisation. But what has roused the Israelis to considerable anger is his comments about the factors leading up to the outrage on October 7th. The actions by Hamas were appalling and have been almost universally condemned. The key passage is below:

The attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum, he noted, with the Palestinian people being subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation, during which they saw their land devoured by settlements; their economy stifled; their homes demolished; and their hopes for a political solution vanishing.  However, the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.  “And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he said, emphasizing:  “Even war has rules.”  At this critical hour, he appealed to everyone to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther.

Guterres clearly links the history of the post 1948 settlements to the events of today. The central argument is whether the barbaric actions of Hamas terrorists can ever be justified by what has taken place over the past 56 years? Guterres says not but clearly recognises that the treatment the Palestinians received over these decades is clearly a factor. He also says that the actions taken against the citizens of Gaza, which are ‘collective punishment’, are not justified by the Hamas attack. A copy of the full UN statement is available here.

On a purely practical level, invading Gaza is likely to be neither effective nor good politics. It will be a bloody affair with heavy losses of life on both sides. It is unlikely, not to say impossible, to achieve since although it may be possible to kill Hamas people, it is impossible to kill an idea or ideology. Around the world, there was a high degree of sympathy and shock at the awful deaths of Israelis on 7th. The death toll mounts in Gaza, including hundreds of children, some of the hospitals are closing for want of fuel and water. Only tiny amounts of aid are entering the enclave. The sympathy which the Israelis received after the terrible killings, may begin to dissipate as time goes by.

Events like these always have causes. Violence seldom if ever springs out of nowhere. Years of apartheid and persecution will have had their effects. What is clear that two wrongs don’t make a right. Palestinians have suffered great wrongs as Guterres and others have said but that does not justify the actions of Hamas. The actions of Hamas in turn do not justify the Israelis taking punitive action against an entire people. This is particularly so as Israel is a modern, heavily armed state with overwhelming military superiority. As Human Rights Watch puts it ‘Condemn the Crimes, Comprehend the Context’

One thing which has become clear is that these events have shone a light on various western nations including the UK. Neither Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, nor Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition party, are having ‘a good war’. The former has been too partisan offering unqualified support for Israel and saying very little about human rights. The desire to score political points has swamped the need for a statesmanlike and impartial approach. Sir Keir has been particularly disappointing: as an ex human rights lawyer and director of the DPP, he must know that cutting off supplies of water, electricity and fuel to Gaza is a war crime yet he defended their actions in doing this [Update: Sir Keir denies this is an interview today]. He seems to be too desperate to shake off the anti-Semitism his party was accused of under the previous leader. This seems to have led him to refrain from saying anything which might be construed as critical of Israel. At serious moments like this when we want calm judgement and measured responses, both leaders have fallen short.