Guterres urges permanent Gaza ceasefire before October 7 anniversary

On October 5 and 6, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged a lasting Gaza truce, greater humanitarian aid and adherence to international law as the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel approached. He also urged a political route to lasting peace across the region.¹²³

Ceasefire appeal

Guterres said the Gaza ceasefire should become permanent and that aid must be permitted at scale. The sources cited a statement in which he called for the ceasefire to be made permanent. He said humanitarian relief must be permitted to enter in large quantities. He also called for international law to be observed.¹³

The secretary-general also called on all sides to carry out their commitments fully and proceed to the ceasefire’s next phase, according to CGTN. His wider appeal was for what he described as a “political path to lasting peace across the whole region.”¹³

Legacy of the conflict

According to The Straits Times and The Hindu, the appeal preceded the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel, which left over 1,200 Israelis and other foreign citizens dead and resulted in 251 hostages. Guterres said the attacks must not be repeated and called for the hostilities in Gaza to end.¹²³

The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 74,200 people have died in Israel’s Gaza offensive. The United Nations considers the ministry’s figures reliable, the two outlets reported. Guterres said Palestinians in Gaza had experienced “massive loss of life, displacement and destruction.”¹²

Unresolved conditions

Guterres said the Gaza truce proclaimed by US President Donald Trump in October 2025 offered limited relief, while failing to ensure security, adequate aid or a credible pathway toward recovery and peace. The sources describe Israel as still controlling most of Gaza.¹²³

According to The Straits Times and The Hindu, Israel has said it will not withdraw its soldiers until Hamas’s disarmament is verified. Hamas, meanwhile, supports gradual disarmament rather than an immediate unilateral surrender of its weapons. The differing positions remain part of the unresolved issues around the ceasefire’s future.¹²

The Gaza war has unfolded alongside wider regional conflict, with Israel having invaded southern Lebanon to confront Hezbollah and launched war against Iran alongside the United States in late February, according to the same reports. Guterres’s call for a regional political settlement placed Gaza within that broader setting.¹²