UN chief Guterres says Israel's conduct of war in Gaza 'fundamentally wrong'

The UN Secretary-General said that Israel had destroyed Gaza but not Hamas, and that there were strong indications war crimes were committed.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

03 December, 2025

Antonio Guterres said there was a strong indication Israel had carried out war crimes in Gaza [Getty]

There was something "fundamentally wrong" with how Israel conducted its military operation in the Gaza Strip, and there are "strong reasons to believe" that war crimes have been committed, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Reuters on Wednesday.

"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 in an interview at the Reuters Next conference in New York.

"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 added.

Israel's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Guterres' remarks.

War crimes

More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the enclave's health ministry, during the two-year-old war on the Strip.

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When asked if war crimes had been committed, Guterres said: "There are strong reasons to believe that that possibility might be a reality."

A fragile truce has been in place since 10 October, but Israel has continued to strike Gaza and conduct demolitions against what it says is Hamas infrastructure. The Gaza government media office said that Israel has violated the truce on an almost daily basis.

Guterres also praised the United States - an ally of Israel - for being instrumental in improving aid access in Gaza, where a global hunger monitor said in August that famine had taken hold due to Israel's restriction of vital aid.

"There is an excellent cooperation in the humanitarian aid between the U.N. and the U.S., and I hope that this will be maintained and developed," he said.

The U.N. has long complained of obstacles to delivering and distributing aid in Gaza, blaming impediments on Israel. Israel has criticised the U.N.-led operation and claimed that Hamas is stealing aid, which the group has denied.