Unspeakable Suffering: Guterres Calls for a Permanent Gaza Ceasefire Ahead of the 7 October Anniversary

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on Monday for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, two days before the third anniversary of the 7 October 2023 attack.

“It is time for the ceasefire to become permanent. It is time to allow humanitarian assistance to enter on a large scale. It is time to respect international law,” Guterres said in a statement.

“We must build a political path towards lasting peace throughout the region. The United Nations remains firmly committed to these imperatives,” he added.

In his statement, Guterres called for “building a different future: one in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security, with their rights upheld, their dignity protected and their aspirations fulfilled”.

The Hamas attack on Israeli territory on 7 October 2023, which the UN secretary-general described as “horrific”, killed 1,221 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official figures.

“Three years on, the pain of 7 October remains for the families who lost loved ones, for the survivors and for everyone whose life was changed forever,” Guterres continued.

“I mourn those killed in the attacks and those who died in captivity. Their suffering must not be forgotten, nor must the enduring grief of their families,” he said.

Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in response to the Hamas attack, has killed more than 74,200 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-administered territory.

Addressing conditions in the Palestinian enclave, Guterres stressed that “the devastating hostilities that followed have inflicted unspeakable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza, including heavy loss of life, displacement and widespread destruction. Civilians continue to endure intolerable conditions. Their suffering, too, must end—now”.

Since US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in October 2025, the region’s political future has remained uncertain.

Israel, which still controls most of the Gaza Strip, refuses to withdraw its forces until Hamas’s disarmament has been verified. Hamas, meanwhile, advocates gradual disarmament rather than the immediate, unilateral surrender of its arsenal.