Guterres steps up pressure on world leaders to end Israel’s war on Gaza: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has formally warned the Security Council that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza threatens international peace and security and invoked a rarely-used article in the UN charter to push the council to avert a full-blown catastrophe. In a letter to the council, Guterres warned that the humanitarian system in the besieged territory is at “severe risk of collapse,” which he expects to trigger the “complete breakdown” of order. The spread of epidemic diseases and mass displacement could unfold in such a situation, he said. Under Article 99 of the UN charter, the secretary-general has the power to bring the council’s attention to any matter that “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security.”

Tomorrow: The UAE will reportedly submit a resolution to the Security Council tomorrow calling for an immediate ceasefire in response to Guterres letter.

Israel responds: The Israeli ambassador to the UN called the letter a “new moral low” and said that Guterres is acting “according to the script written by Hamas” with a bias against Israel.

ON THE GROUND- Israeli forces surrounded Hamas’ leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar’s house in Khan Younis | Israeli attacks continued across Gaza | Violence between Israeli troops and Hamas forced tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians to flee to Rafah.

DIPLO- G7 leaders called for fresh humanitarian pauses in Gaza | Former Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said the US is “losing a tremendous amount of credibility in the Arab world” due to its handling of the war.

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