UN Chief: Israel’s Gaza Campaign 'Fundamentally Wrong' and May Amount to War Crimes

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sharply criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, saying the operation was "fundamentally wrong" and that "there are strong reasons" to suspect Israeli forces may have committed war crimes. He made the remarks in an on-stage interview with Alessandra Galloni at the NEXT conference in New York.

Guterres said the campaign showed "total neglect" for civilian lives and left Gaza devastated while Hamas remained intact. "The objective was to destroy Hamas. Gaza is destroyed, but Hamas is not yet destroyed. So there is something fundamentally wrong with the way this is conducted," he said.

"I think there was something fundamentally wrong in the way this operation was conducted with total neglect in relation to the deaths of civilians and to the destruction of Gaza," Guterres said. "There are strong reasons to believe that that possibility [of war crimes] might be a reality."

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, sharply rejected the remarks, accusing Guterres of repeatedly condemning Israel and criticizing him for not having visited Israel since the October 2023 attacks. The exchange echoes earlier tensions in which then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz publicly declared Guterres "persona non grata" in Israel in October 2024.

Human toll and ceasefire status

Gaza authorities report more than 70,000 people have died since October 7, 2023, when an attack by Hamas militants led Israel to launch a large-scale military operation. The initial assault on Israel killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in around 251 hostages taken, according to available accounts.

A fragile, U.S.-brokered ceasefire built around a 20-point plan has been in place since October 10. Despite the truce, Gaza authorities say Israeli forces have violated the ceasefire hundreds of times. Officials in Gaza report at least 591 violations, with at least 360 Palestinians killed and 922 wounded since the agreement began; recent strikes reportedly killed seven people, including two children aged eight and ten.

Humanitarian access and border crossings

Guterres praised the United States for using its influence to expand humanitarian access in Gaza, saying the situation has "considerably improved" because of U.S. pressure on Israeli authorities. "They have leverage that, of course, we [the UN] do not," he said, and called for continued cooperation between the UN and the United States to sustain aid flows.

Nevertheless, Israel has continued to limit the entry of aid and control crossings. Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would open "in the coming days exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt," a one-way arrangement that has raised fears of permanent displacement — a policy long advocated by some far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

Guterres’ comments underscore urgent concerns about civilian protection, accountability, and the long-term humanitarian consequences for Gaza as political and military efforts to stabilize the enclave continue.