Note to Correspondents: Letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council

Given the scale of the loss of human life in Gaza and in Israel, in such a short amount of time, the Secretary-General has today delivered a letter to the President of the Security Council, invoking Article 99 of the United Nations Charter.  

This is the first time that António Guterres has done this since he became Secretary-General in 2017. Article 99 states that “the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” 

In the letter, which we are sharing with you, the Secretary-General urges the members of the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, and he appeals for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. 

Letter can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/npb6em7n