UN chief says Israel doesn’t look interested in ‘serious negotiation for ceasefire' in Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday refrained from defining the situation in the Gaza Strip as genocide but described it as "horrendous."

In response to a question on the UN Commission of Inquiry's decision that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, Guterres said: "It is not in the attributions of the Secretary-General to do the legal determination of genocide that belongs to the adequate judicial entities, namely the International Court of Justice."

"What happens in Gaza today is horrendous," he said at a news conference.

Calling the situation in Gaza City a "systematic destruction," Guterres said: "We are seeing massive killing of civilians in a way that I do not remember in any conflict since I am Secretary-General."

He stressed that Israeli impediments to aid distribution and repeated displacement orders are "something that is morally, politically and legally intolerable."

Asked about a possible UN force to be deployed in Gaza to protect civilians, Guterres said it would not be possible.

"It will be rejected by Israel, and, I believe, rejected by also the US," he added.

Expressing hopes for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and release of hostages, the UN secretary-general said: "But at the present moment, it looks like Israel is determined to go up to the end and is not open to a serious negotiation for a ceasefire, with the dramatic consequence - from the Israeli point of view - that it is also not allowing for the release of hostages that we have always said should be immediate and unconditional."

"So let's be clear: With the attack that took place in Qatar, it doesn't look that Israel is interested in a serious negotiation for a ceasefire and release of hostages," he said.

In response to the UN's viability in solving problems, Guterres stressed that the "one thing I cannot solve, the capacity of the Security Council."

"Paralysis of the Security Council is a source of impunity that undermines our work," he said, adding that "it is not the UN, it's the member states that are divided that do not allow the UN to work properly."