UN chief: World is becoming ‘less safe by the day’

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres offered a stark warning Monday about the state of the world, arguing combatants in several parts of the world are “turning a blind eye to international law” amid a “time of turbulence.”

“Our world is becoming less safe by the day,” Guterres said Monday during an address to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council. “After decades of stable power relations, we are transitioning into an era of multipolarity. This creates new opportunities for leadership and justice on the international stage. But multipolarity without strong multilateral institutions is a recipe for chaos.”

Guterres said the world is “changing at warp speed,” with multiple global conflicts prompting “unprecedented suffering,” in his appeal for nations to fully respect all human rights, including civil, cultural, political and social rights.

Citing conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, the Republic of Congo and Gaza, Guterres called out the U.N.’s Security Council for its lack of unity when it comes to securing peace and security in these areas, especially in the Middle East.

“The council’s lack of unity on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and on Israel’s military operations in Gaza following the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October, has severely — perhaps fatally — undermined its authority,” he said. “The council needs serious reform to its composition and working methods.”

The remarks come just months after he invoked Article 99 of the U.N. charter for the first time in early December, when he warned of a “severe risk of collapse” of the humanitarian system in Gaza.

Fighting in Gaza was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s surprise Oct. 7 assault on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw the kidnapping of 250 others. Israel has vowed to eliminate the threat of Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and Israel continues to carry out a military campaign that has left more than 29,000 people dead since early October, per the enclave’s Health Ministry.

“Nothing can justify [Hamas’s] deliberate killing, injuring, torturing and kidnapping of civilians, the use of sexual violence — or the indiscriminate launching of rockets towards Israel,” Guterres said. “But nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

Reiterating past warnings of dwindling humanitarian aid in Gaza, Guterres called for a humanitarian cease-fire and unconditional release of all hostages.

“We cannot — we must not — become numb to appalling and repeated violations of international humanitarian and human rights law,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend signaled a cease-fire deal is within reach, but only if Hamas gives up its “delusional claims” while negotiations are hammered out for a six-week cease-fire deal.

Guterres also called out attacks on other human rights and repeated his push for debt relief in some of the poorest countries, along with greater action to fight climate change.

His remarks came as the Human Rights Council begins a six-week session.