António Guterres warns of "the specter of ethnic cleansing" amid West Bank settler violence

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking Monday in Cairo during one of his final trips in the role, voiced severe concern about increasing violence by Israeli settlers and expanding settlements in the West Bank. He pressed Israel to loosen restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza and to remove barriers to the Security Council’s peace plan, cautioning that conditions were creating a widening danger for Palestinians as a group. He also said enduring peace in the region depends on Palestinian self-determination and on a two-state arrangement with Jerusalem as the capital of both countries. The remarks came as he called for stability around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz and for safety near Yemen’s Bab al-Mandeb Strait.