United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday invoked Article 99, a rarely used clause in the U.N. Charter, to warn the Security Council that the situation between Israel and Hamas could negatively affect international peace and security.
Guterres invoked Article 99 for the first time in his nearly seven-year tenure because of the "appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory," he said in a letter to the 15-nation council.
The U.N. Charter was signed in 1945 and is the foundation of the organization. Article 99 says, "The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security."
It is intended to raise the alarm to prevent a brewing crisis from spiraling out of control.
This is the first time Guterres has invoked the clause in his crisis-plagued tenure. The last time Article 99 was explicitly invoked was in 1971, during fighting that led to the creation of Bangladesh and its separation from Pakistan.
In several other instances, Guterres and his predecessors have used language similar to Article 99 without directly invoking it.
More than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed in eight weeks of war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. In Israel, 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed on October 7. An estimated 1.9 million Palestinians, or 80% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced since the war began, and aid has been slow to reach them.
Guterres said there is “a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza.”
More than 130 U.N. staff have been killed in the conflict, many with their families.
"This is the largest single loss of life in the history of our organization," Guterres told the Council Friday in a briefing on the situation. He renewed his appeal for the council to take action and push for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to save civilian lives and get aid into Gaza.
He also has warned that the situation could spill over in an already fragile and conflict-ridden region, drawing neighbors into a bigger conflagration.
