UN secretary-general invokes Article 99 on Gaza

 Antonio Guterres warned of a deepening ‘catastrophe’ in Gaza as he called on the Security Council to act.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, urging the UN Security Council to act on the war in Gaza.

The rare move by the secretary-general comes as the Security Council is yet to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel, Hamas and their allies.

Considered the UN’s most powerful body, the 15-member Security Council is tasked with maintaining international peace and security.

In his letter to the council’s president, Guterres invoked this responsibility, saying he believed the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, “may aggravate existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security”.

Guterres – who has been calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” since October 18 – also described “appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories”.

In response to Guterres’s letter, Security Council member the United Arab Emirates posted on X to say it had submitted a new draft resolution to the council, and “called for a humanitarian ceasefire resolution to be adopted urgently”.