United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged the international community to continue pushing for a full ceasefire and the release of all hostages in Gaza.

He said this at a session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which met to elect a new bureau and adopt a programme of work for the year.

The UN chief spoke in the wake of comments made by United States President Donald Trump in the White House, who suggested the U.S. could take over the Gaza Strip, calling on Palestinians living there to leave.

Addressing Committee members, the secretary-general stated that at its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land.

He noted, however, that “we have seen the realisation of those rights steadily slip farther out of reach” as well as “a chilling, systematic dehumanisation and demonization of an entire people.”

The UN chief stressed that “of course, nothing justifies the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7” or “what we have seen unfold in Gaza over these last many months.”

He pointed to “the catalogue of destruction and unspeakable horrors”, with nearly 50,000 people reportedly killed, mainly women and children, and most of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza destroyed.

Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the population has faced repeated displacement, hunger and disease, while children have been out of school for over a year – “a generation, left homeless and traumatised.”

The secretary-general welcomed the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, announced in January. He thanked mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States for their continued efforts to ensure implementation.

9News Nigeria reports that some of his words were; “Now it is time to be crystal clear about objectives going forward.

“First, we must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages without delay. We cannot go back to more death and destruction,” he said.