The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has accused the UN Security Council of neglecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before this latest outbreak of hostilities, leading to a "jigsaw of war" across the world.
Delivering his remarks to the 15-member body in New York this morning, Filippo Grandi said solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had always been described as "elusive".
"But it has not been elusive," he told the council.
"It has been repeatedly and deliberately neglected, cast aside as something no longer necessary, almost ridiculed," he said.
He told ambassadors that the focus had been on dealing with the chronic resurgence of violence, followed by temporary ceasefires "which was deemed more expedient that focusing on a real peace that could provide Israelis and Palestinians with the rights, recognition and statehood they deserve," he said.
"I hope that now, amidst the horrors of war, we can at least see how grave a miscalculation that has been," he added.
"A humanitarian ceasefire can at least stop this spiral of death and I hope that you will overcome your divisions and exercise your authority in demanding one," he told ambassadors.
"The world is waiting for you to do so," he added.
Mr Grandi's comments formed part of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ annual briefing to the UN Security Council.
He told ambassadors there were an estimated 114 million refugees and displaced people around the world.
Forced displacement "driven by brutal conflict," was a consequence of the council’s failure to uphold peace and security, he said.
He described the conflict in Gaza as "the latest – and perhaps largest – piece of a most dangerous jigsaw of war that is rapidly closing in around us".
He commented on several conflicts around the world that, he said, the Security Council must address, including Lebanon, Armenia, Central Sahel, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine and Sudan.
"Look at Sudan," he told ambassadors on which the world is "scandalously silent".
"It is shameful that the atrocities committed 20 years ago in Darfur can be happening again today with such little attention," he said.
He said the world wanted to hear the council’s strong, united voice which had been drowned "in rivalries and divisions".
Four separate resolutions on the Israel-Hamas conflict have so far failed to reach agreement at the Security Council. China, Russia and the US have all exercised their vetoes. A fifth draft text is expected to be presented this week.
"The gravity of this moment cannot be overstated," Mr Grandi told the council.
"The choices that the 15 of you make, or fail to make, will mark us all for generations to come," he said.
"Will you continue to allow this jigsaw of war to be completed by aggressive acts, by your disunity, or by sheer neglect?" Mr Grandi added.
"Or will you take the courageous and necessary steps back from the abyss?" he asked.
