By Ibtisam Azem

 

NEW YORK, 22 Sept. - (ANA) - In an exclusive interview with The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby al-Jadeed, United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, addressed several challenges facing the world, including the recent Israeli attack against Qatar, Palestine, and the situation in Syria and Lebanon. 

 

 

The interview was conducted by Ibtisam Azem, Al-Araby al-Jadeed’s senior correspondent at the UN in New York. 

 

This?interview has been slightly edited for brevity and clarity. 

 

Q: The State of Qatar was attacked on 9 September, after a series of other attacks on other countries in the region. How do you explain the precedent of launching an attack on a country that is mediating to end a war it is waging?

 

UN Secretary General António Guterres (AG): I think it's a unique case in recent history that a country (Israel) bombards six other countries on the same day. There was the bombardment of the Palestinians in Gaza, bombardment in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and, apparently, there were two drone attacks in Tunisia and Qatar.  

 

The attack on Qatar in particular represents an unacceptable violation of the territorial integrity of the country. Qatar has done a fantastic job in trying to create the conditions, not only for a ceasefire in Gaza, but for the release of the hostages. So it is inconceivable that a strike is carried out on Qatar, violating its territorial integrity and killing at least six people on its soil.

 

I think that this strike demonstrates that the Israeli government really doesn’t want to negotiate. Unfortunately, we have reasons to be very concerned that the horrendous suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza will go on, and the destruction of Gaza City with all its consequences will go on.

 

We also have reasons to believe that essential humanitarian aid will be unable to support the Palestinian people, who are suffering from famine and from the total absence of minimum healthcare, due to Israeli restrictions. 

 

It is all of these issues combined that make the level of death and destruction in Gaza the highest number in my mandate as a Secretary-General. 

 

 

AG: I would say that it's never too late to do the right thing, and I've been fighting with the instruments I have, which of course are limited, using at least my voice. I've been fighting for the two-state solution for several decades.

 

For a very simple reason, there is no alternative to the two-state solution. The idea of a one-state solution, in which Palestinians would be expelled, by which the Palestinians would be forced to leave under occupation, discrimination, is something inconceivable in the 21st century. And it would mean that there would be no peace in the Middle East, and it would mean a dramatic increase in radicalisation in many parts of the world.

 

So the problem is not that the two-state solution is difficult; the problem is that the one-state solution is intolerable, and so we must do everything we can to mobilise the international community and apply as much pressure as possible to make sure that there are no attempts to neutralise the two-state solution.

 

An example is the recent decision of increasing settlements and the E1 project; we must make all possible efforts to keep the two-state solution alive at the present moment and to create the conditions for its effective implementation as soon as possible.

 

 

 

AG: From a democratic point of view, I would have no problems with that. But I don't think that the Israelis would ever accept that situation. I think it would be easier for them to accept a two-state solution in which they can live in peace and security with the Palestinians with equivalent rights.

 

 

SG: Not at the present moment…

 

 

AG. Well, I think we need to continue putting pressure in all possible forms and make them understand that the only way for them to have real peace is if they grant the Palestinian people the satisfaction of their right to self-determination.

 

 

AG: I think that it is something that the Israeli authorities should look into very carefully. Our position has always been very clear. It is not for the Secretary-General to make the legal determination of genocide.

 

But independently of the name, I think what matters is the reality. And the reality is horrendous, absolutely intolerable, in which we are seeing the collective punishment of the Palestinian people for acts of Hamas that were totally condemnable, but they do not justify at all this level of death and destruction.

 

This is morally, politically, and legally intolerable.

 

 

AG: What I've seen and what I say is that it is so clear and so tough that the problem is not the problem of words; the problem is the problem of a reality that we need to eliminate.

 

 

AG: We are doing what we can on all fronts for that purpose, and we should never lose hope. I don’t have an army. I don’t have the power to solve these problems, but I have a clear determination to solve these problems. I can guarantee that this is a central objective in the exercise of my mandate.

 

 

AG: I think it is clear that Israel will only stop if there is pressure from the United States, and I believe, I hope, that the United States will understand that it is in the interest of peace and security around the world to tell Israel that they must abide by international law.

 

 

AG: The same applies to all other countries in the world. I think it's important that they are clear about Israel that this is unacceptable.

 

 

AG: There are many ways to express that. In my opinion, the pressure must be as effective as possible.

 

 

AG: I think we have a problem of legitimacy and effectiveness of the Security Council. It doesn't correspond anymore to what the world was in 1945. We need a Security Council in which the representation is equivalent to what the world is today. It's intolerable that Africa has no permanent seat at the SC and the same for Latin America, and there is a clear disequilibrium in the composition that reflects the end of the Second World War, with some small adjustments that were made in between.

 

On the other hand, the Security Council has been paralysed by the geopolitical divides and its inefficiency in addressing the key crises that we have in the world. It's not only the Gaza crisis, but the same in Ukraine and other places. This is something that makes it clear that the reform at the Security Council must be one of the important objectives of the international community.

 

 

AG: All vetoes that do not allow the Security Council to act in the right direction are something that is very negative and doesn't help the image of the Security Council and the image of the United Nations.

 

I believe that there is no solution for the problems of the world without a strong multilateral engagement.

 

 

AG: I have an enormous admiration for the work that Geir Pedersen has been doing, always at the service of the Syrian people, without any other agenda but the well-being of the Syrian people and peace and unity in Syria.

 

But I believe that this is the moment in which we need to intensify our approach in Syria. We need to move our mission right-sized to Damascus.

 

I understand that Mr. Pedersen, who has been working for so many years, has decided that he should let someone new come. But I can guarantee that we will maintain the same commitment to support the Syrian people.

 

 

AG:  Syria, for me, is a matter of heart. I worked in Syria as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and I saw the enormous generosity of the Syrian people in welcoming the Iraqis. There were no refugee camps, and they shared everything with them. To see the Syrian people suffer, as I've seen since the repression that Assad started, and then its massive outflow and the destruction and deaths that occurred, was something that really always broke my heart.

 

 

And so I think we have now an enormous depth of gratitude towards the Syrian people, and we need to do everything to support the Syrians in making the most of the present situation, to move in the direction of its unity, its sovereignty and within a society in which all the different components, all the different groups, can be together and all of them can be respected in their identity, but at the same time fully participating in the life of the new state.

 

Q: In Resolution 2790 (2025) the SC extended the mandate of Lebanon (UNIFIL), for a final time until 31 December 2026, and decided that it should start an orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal from that date. Was this a mistake on the part of the SC, given the situation on the ground?

 

AG: I'm very proud of the work UNIFIL has been doing. I think they have shown enormous courage and dedication in the service of the Lebanese people and peace between Israel and Lebanon. Now, the mission will be moving into a sunset, and I think it's essential to take advantage of this period in order to make sure that the agreements that were made will be fully respected.

 

Israel must leave the territories that it still occupies in Lebanon and end its strikes. On the other hand, we fully support the efforts of the Lebanese government to create a monopoly on the use of force in the Lebanese army. We believe that that is an essential condition for the unity of the state and for effective governance in Lebanon, and we will also support the reforms that will be done.

 

We believe that with a Lebanon, whose Lebanese Armed Forces control the whole territory, and with Israel respecting the sovereignty of Lebanon and its territorial integrity, we will then have the conditions in which the role of UNIFIL will no longer be necessary.

 

 

AG: That is why it's very important to take advantage of the time that was given to us, to do our best to support this process.

 

 

We will see that soon.

 

 

 

AG: The importance of supporting UNRWA.  Almost 400 members of the staff of the UN have been killed in Gaza, most of them from UNRWA, many of them with their families in their houses. And the work that UNRWA has been doing has been vital for the Palestinian people. UNRWA is in an extremely difficult financial situation, and so all the solidarity that can be expressed to UNRWA is extremely important.

 

At the same time, I believe that the Arab world has today a growing influence in international affairs, and we move more and more into a multipolar world. And I believe that the union of the Arab world would be a very important element for the world to have more justice and more equality.

 

 

AG: I hope they will rise to the challenge. 

 

 

 

 

 

AB/ANA/22 September 2025 - - -