UN News Today 11 February 2025 |

Gaza: Return to war must be avoided at all costs, insists UN chief

A return to war in Gaza must be avoided at all costs, UN Secretary-General António Guterres insisted on Tuesday, amid fears that the three-week old ceasefire agreement between Hamas fighters and Israel is about to end.

“We must avoid at all costs the resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to an immense tragedy,” said the UN chief, in a short statement.

“I appeal to Hamas to proceed” with the planned release of hostages on Saturday,” Mr. Guterres added. “Both sides must fully abide by their commitments in the ceasefire agreement and resume serious negotiations in Doha for the second phase.”

The development comes amid reports that Hamas suspended the scheduled release of hostages from Gaza on Saturday, on the grounds that Palestinians continue to be killed in the war-torn enclave and that too little aid is entering the Strip.

Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said on Tuesday that its operations continue uninterrupted in Gaza and the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem – despite being outlawed now in Israel.

“Our clinics across the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem are open while the humanitarian operation in Gaza continues,” UNRWA said in an online post. It added that “we are committed to staying and delivering”.

At AI Summit in Paris, diplomats and Pharrell mull destiny of tech revolution

AI is already transforming our world but its power rests “in the hands of a few”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Tuesday.

Addressing the AI Action Summit in Paris, he appealed for countries to work on the revolutionary technology together, “to bridge the gap between developed and developing countries – not widen it”.

“Global guardrails” must be agreed and deployed urgently and best practices shared, Mr. Guterres insisted, in the interests of solidarity, equitable policies and fair business.

The UN chief also called for clean energy solutions, as AI data centres already place “an unsustainable strain” on our planet.

“So it is crucial to design AI algorithms and infrastructures that consume less energy and integrate AI into smart grids to optimize power use. From data centres to training models, AI must run on sustainable energy so that it fuels a more sustainable future.”

Also at the summit, singer Pharrell Williams rejected concerns that AI might make humans redundant or take people’s jobs. “We wouldn’t use AI to help us write a song,” he said, insisting that the tech “wouldn’t replace creativity”.

DR Congo: Alarm over dismantling of displacement camps

To the Democratic Republic of the Congo (or DRC) now, where UN humanitarians reported on Tuesday that sporadic fighting continues in the east of the country, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized Goma, the provincial capital.

UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that thousands are leaving sites for internally displaced people in and around the key city and “moving to areas where there is no fighting”.

More than 110,000 displaced people have now left sites in Goma and started to move to villages in the Masisi, Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories. OCHA said that it has carried out aid assessments in Rutshuru.

Clashes have been reported in South Kivu, with mass displacement towards Katana.

Latest news reports say M23 rebels are advancing on the provincial capital Bukavu.

Within Goma, aid teams have also expressed concern at the continuing flow of wounded people requiring treatment and the rising number of victims of sexual violence.

Humanitarian partners also issued an alert about the “unplanned dismantling” of sites for internally displaced people.

This is causing a loss of vital humanitarian infrastructure at the sites, including water facilities, health centres and cholera treatment centres, OCHA said.

Daniel Johnson, UN News 

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