BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 23. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that worsening crises across the Middle East are fueled by an “alarming disregard for international law.” Speaking to the UN Security Council, he said conflicts are increasing in number, complexity, length, and scope, and impunity is spreading.
Guterres stressed that navigational rights in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb must be fully restored and emphasized that diplomacy is the only way forward.
On Gaza, he noted that civilians continue to suffer despite the ceasefire, with killings ongoing as Israel increases its control and conditions remain intolerable. In the occupied West Bank, he warned of creeping annexation, violence, and large-scale displacement, adding that the region is being drawn into a widening circle of confrontation.
