UN chief urges Israel, Hamas to implement Trump-announced Gaza deal without delay

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged Israel and Hamas to fully implement the Gaza agreement announced by US President Donald Trump.

"The only good news in recent days is the announcement by the US president of an agreement for Hamas to relinquish their weapons and for Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza," Guterres said at a news conference in New York.

His remarks came after Trump and the Board of Peace announced an agreement on implementing the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, with the Board saying Hamas had approved a detailed roadmap. Israel has yet to officially endorse it.

Responding to a question about reports that Israel remains skeptical of the arrangement and has indicated it will not withdraw until Hamas disarms, Guterres said the implementation mechanism had already been established.

"It was announced already that there is a roadmap to implement these objectives. That roadmap must be followed without any questions, skepticism, or determination to undermine it.

"Now is the time for both sides to implement what was agreed," Guterres said.

- 'Guterres calls for restoration of Strait of Hormuz shipping'

Guterres also warned that six months of military escalation in the Gulf has evolved from a regional conflict into a source of global instability, citing the collapse of trade through the Strait of Hormuz and its growing impact on the world economy.

"We are now six months into the military escalation in the Gulf. What began as a regional conflict is increasingly becoming a driver of global instability," Guterres said.

He said trade through the Strait of Hormuz has collapsed, energy markets have been upended, and prices of food and key fertilizers have surged, while supply chains are "buckling."

"Around the world, we see families struggling to put food on the table, farmers unable to afford basic inputs, and vulnerable countries pushed closer to the edge," he added.

Guterres warned that rising prices and slowing economic growth threaten to push millions more people back into poverty, and the humanitarian consequences are mounting.

Calling for an end to the conflict, the UN chief urged all parties to restore freedom of navigation through the region's critical waterways.

"Let me be clear: The fighting must stop," he said. "International navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab must be fully restored. And diplomacy must prevail."