No more “shocking violence and bloodshed,” says UN chief on anniversary of Hamas attack

The U.N. secretary-general condemned Hamas and called for an immediate end to the “shocking violence and bloodshed” in Gaza and Lebanon in a statement Saturday ahead of the anniversary of the Palestinian group’s Oct. 7 attack.

Monday marks one year since the devastating attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Now Lebanon is also embroiled in the fighting, with world leaders warning of a possible widespread regional crisis.

“This is a day for the global community to reiterate with a loud voice our complete condemnation of Hamas’s heinous acts, including the hostage-taking,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in an anniversary message released Saturday evening.

While Guterres called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of the hostages, he also implored Hamas to allow Red Cross workers to visit the hostages.

Hamas militants kidnapped 251 people on October 7, 97 of whom are still trapped in Gaza, including 33 who the Israeli military says are dead.

Guterres also expressed concern about the conflict spreading to Lebanon, where Israel has attacked the Hamas-allied group Hezbollah in recent days, killing over a thousand people and forcing more than a million to flee their homes.

“The war that followed the horrific attacks a year ago continues to shatter lives and cause great human suffering to the Palestinians in Gaza and now to the people of Lebanon,” Guterres said.

The attack on Israel on October 7th killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians. This is according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures and including hostages killed in captivity.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least 41,825 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the Israeli retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory. The UN said these figures are reliable.

“Since October 7, a wave of shocking violence and bloodshed has broken out,” Guterres said.

“It is time for the hostages to be released,” he said. “Time to silence the guns. Time to end the suffering that has gripped the region. Time for peace, international law and justice.”

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