NEW YORK CITY: The Middle East is undergoing a “profound transformation” marked by both uncertainty and potential, the UN secretary-general told a high-level meeting of the Security Council on Monday. 

Antonio Guterres praised Egypt, Qatar and the US for their efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement between Hamas and Israel. The deal reached last week came into effect on Sunday, when the first phase of hostage releases by both sides took place and the number of trucks entering Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to the starving population began to ramp up.

Guterres urged all parties to honor their commitments, fully implement the agreement, and ensure it leads to the release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire in the territory.

He called for the wider effects of the deal to include an assurance that all UN agencies are able to perform their duties “without hindrance,” including the Relief and Works Agency, the largest aid agency for Palestinians, which is under threat from an imminent Knesset ban on operating in Israel.

“The UN must have rapid, safe and unimpeded access through all available channels and crossings to deliver food, water, medicine, fuel, shelter, and materials to repair infrastructure across Gaza, including the north,” said Guterres.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said that after 15 months of “relentless war, the humanitarian needs in Gaza are staggering and there is no time to lose.”

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday that the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, depends on aid basics to survive.

“Children account for about half of the Strip’s population, with many surviving on just one meal a day,” he added. “Our partners working on children’s welfare say the provision of food, water and medical supplies are being prioritized.”

The World Health Organization has a 60-day plan to increase bed capacity at some hospitals in northern and southern Gaza, Haq said, and to send in additional health workers from abroad to staff them. He noted that about 30,000 people in the territory sustained life-changing injuries during the conflict and need specialized care.

Enabling a surge in the amount of desperately needed relief supplies entering the territory requires that visas and permits for humanitarian workers be granted quickly, and that steps are taken to ensure safe conditions and conducive operating environments are in place, Guterres told members of the Security Council.

This includes the provision of necessary technical and protective gear, coordination between all parties and UN operatives on the ground, and the restoration of public order and safety to prevent the looting of humanitarian aid, he added. Commercial supplies must also be allowed to enter Gaza to help meet the “overwhelming needs of the population.”

Guterres also called for medical evacuations for those who need to travel for treatment, and urged UN member states to take in patients from Gaza.

In addition, people returning to homes they were forced to abandon during the war must be able to do so safely, he said.

“Explosive ordnance must be removed. The recovery of human remains must be conducted with dignity and respect,” Guterres added, and the international media must be allowed into Gaza to report “on this crucial story.”

He highlighted the need for intensifying collective efforts to establish effective governance and security arrangements in Gaza that will ultimately enable the enclave and the West Bank to reunify, as he underscored the Palestinian Authority’s desire to assume its role there.

In the West Bank itself, Guterres said the situation was growing worse, with clashes, airstrikes, the relentless expansion of illegal settlements, and demolitions of Palestinian properties. This is causing deep concern about an “existential threat” to the integrity and continuity of the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, he added.

“Israeli administrative changes over the past two years have streamlined and accelerated the settlement-approval process,” Guterres said.

“As a result, control over many aspects of planning and daily life in Area C of the West Bank has been transferred to Israeli civilian authorities.”

Israeli officials now openly speak about their desire to annex the West Bank in the near future, but Guterres warned that “any such annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law.”

Greater stability in the Middle East requires “irreversible action” that moves toward a two-state solution “with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security, in line with international law, relevant UN resolutions and previous agreements, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states,” he said.

Guterres had just returned from a solidarity visit to Lebanon, where he said a “new dawn is rising” for the country, with hopes for the establishment of a state that will be able to represent all Lebanese people and guarantee their security.

While there he visited southern Lebanon, where peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon are stationed on the demarcation line between the country and Israel. He saluted the peacekeepers for their efforts and thanked the countries that contribute troops.

Although the ceasefire with Israel there is fragile, “it is holding,” said Guterres, and the UN peacekeepers are making “vital efforts to nurture this process” in cooperation with the Lebanese army.

He stressed that the Israeli presence in southern Lebanon needs to end, as stipulated in the recent ceasefire agreement, and that the Lebanese Armed Forces must be present in all parts of the country.

“Resolution 1701 is clear: The area between the Blue Line and the Litani River must be free of all armed personnel, assets and weapons, other than those of the government of Lebanon and UNIFIL,” he said, referring to a resolution adopted by the Security Council in 2006 with the aim of resolving the conflict that year between Israel and Hezbollah.

Regarding the situation in neighboring Syria, Guterres said a country that has been “a crossroads of civilizations” now stands at “a crossroads of history.”

He added: “Following the fall of the brutal previous regime, and years of bloodshed, there is a possibility of promise for the people of Syria.”

However, he warned that “we cannot let the flame of hope turn into an inferno of chaos,” as he called for “much more significant work in addressing sanctions and designations,” given the country’s “urgent economic needs.”

He also underscored the fact that an inclusive political transition would be “the most effective means to ensure that Syria receives more support.”