UN secretary-general warns Middle East escalation risks wider war, urges two‑state solution

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on June 11, 2026, that recent attacks across the Middle East risk triggering "a full resumption of conflict" and urged members to back an immediate, comprehensive ceasefire and renewed diplomacy toward a two‑state solution.

Guterres framed the briefing around immediate humanitarian needs and broader regional stability, saying escalation "reverberates across borders and continents" through displacement, market disruptions and higher food and fuel costs that hit the world’s most vulnerable countries.

He detailed intense fighting in Lebanon, saying Israel had intensified operations there while Hezbollah "fired deeper into Israel," and reported "the forced displacement of over a million civilians" and the deaths of "seven UN peacekeepers." He urged respect for Lebanon's territorial integrity and Security Council Resolution 1701, and called for "a continued United Nations uniformed presence" following a proposed UNIFIL departure to alleviate civilian suffering.

On Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory, Guterres said conditions are "rapidly deteriorating," with aid operations "heavily constrained" and basic services—clean water, sanitation, food, shelter and health care—unmet. "The provision of humanitarian aid must never be used as a bargaining chip," he said, and urged implementation of a comprehensive plan facilitated by the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

Guterres warned of mounting violence in the West Bank, citing "reports of settler violence, now averaging six attacks per day," the demolition of homes and seizure of land. He said such trends and any attempted annexation would jeopardize the viability of a two‑state solution and stressed that delay "only perpetuate[s] injustice, fueling extremism."

Turning to the Gulf, Guterres flagged recent restrictions on navigational rights around the Strait of Hormuz, saying they are disrupting supply chains, driving up energy and fertilizer prices, and worsening food insecurity and inflation in developing countries. He called for navigational freedoms to be restored in line with international law and referenced Security Council Resolution 2817 in that context.

On Syria, Guterres said Council members who visited Damascus six months earlier had seen the work needed for a transition—"inclusivity and rule of law to transitional justice and reconstruction"—and urged respect for Syrian sovereignty while warning against further use of force.

Discussing Yemen, Guterres highlighted a recent UN-supported mediation that led to the release of about 1,600 conflict-related detainees under the 2018 Stockholm Agreement, describing it as the largest such release since the conflict began; he also warned of Houthi threats to close navigation in the Bab-el-Mandeb and urged immediate and conditional release of arbitrarily detained UN and NGO personnel.

Throughout the briefing Guterres repeatedly called on the Security Council to support diplomacy and the lawful peaceful settlement of disputes. "There is no alternative and there is no time to waste," he said, urging members to back an end to the occupation and a negotiated outcome in line with international law and past UN resolutions.

After the Secretary-General's remarks, a Council representative thanked him for the briefing; the transcript records no votes or formal Council decisions in this session.