<\/p>\n
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
—<\/b><\/p>\n
REMARKS TO THE PRESS<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n
Cairo, 26 October 2026<\/u><\/b><\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
[as delivered]<\/b><\/p>\n
As-salam-alaikum.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Let me begin by thanking you, Honourable Foreign Minister, and the government and people of Egypt for your warm welcome.<\/p>\n
This is indeed my ninth visit to Egypt as United Nations Secretary-General.<\/p>\n
I first came soon after taking office in 2017.<\/p>\n
I said then that Egypt was the political center of the region and as such an essential partner in addressing the respective problems.<\/p>\n
Nearly ten years later, I am more convinced of that than ever.<\/p>\n
Through the years, I have come to Egypt at moments of hope and moments of grave crisis.<\/p>\n
I have had a great privilege of addressing students at Cairo University \u2013 both in 2017 and again later today.<\/p>\n
I had the honour of meeting the Grand Imam at Al-Azhar Mosque to express my profound respect, and our shared commitment to promoting inter-faith harmony.<\/p>\n
I was in Sharm el-Sheikh for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Climate Conference \u2013 COP27 \u2013 as the world came together on the great challenge of climate change.<\/p>\n
I returned as war engulfed Gaza, first to Rafah and then to the Cairo Summit on Peace.<\/p>\n
I came back to Rafah again as the humanitarian catastrophe deepened.<\/p>\n
And I returned for international efforts in support of peace in Gaza.<\/p>\n
There is a reason I have come back to Egypt again and again.<\/p>\n
Because when this region and our world have faced some of the most difficult moments, Egypt has consistently worked to open space for diplomacy.<\/p>\n
To bring parties to the table.<\/p>\n
To keep humanitarian lifelines open.<\/p>\n
And to help turn confrontation towards dialogue.<\/p>\n
For this essential role, I want to express my deep appreciation to the Government and people of Egypt.<\/p>\n
Egypt is a pillar of multilateralism. And at a time when divisions are deepening, it is critical to keep the channels of diplomacy open.<\/p>\n
This was at the heart of our discussions and of my visit.<\/p>\n
On Gaza, I expressed my profound appreciation for Egypt\u2019s indispensable role.<\/p>\n
From the beginning of the conflict, Egypt has been central to mediation and humanitarian efforts.<\/p>\n
I thank Egypt for its continued support to facilitate life-saving aid, medical evacuations and the work of humanitarian partners, including the Egyptian Red Crescent.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian people continue to endure immense suffering.<\/p>\n
Israeli restrictions on humanitarian assistance must be lifted.<\/p>\n
The obstacles to implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict endorsed by the Security Council must be removed.<\/p>\n
Civilians must be protected.<\/p>\n
And international law must be respected.<\/p>\n
I am also deeply alarmed by Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
Settlements are expanding.<\/p>\n
Evictions are unrelenting with Palestinians driven from their lands.<\/p>\n
Settler violence is surging.<\/p>\n
Palestinian families are being assaulted.<\/p>\n
Journalists and diplomats are coming under attack.<\/p>\n
We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the spectre of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger.<\/p>\n
This must end.<\/p>\n
And we must never lose sight of the fundamental question.<\/p>\n
There can be no durable peace in the Middle East without the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination.<\/p>\n
The two-State solution remains the only viable path: Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security, in accordance with international law and United Nations resolutions, with Gaza and the West Bank as integral parts of a Palestinian State and Jerusalem as the capital of both States.<\/p>\n
I commend Egypt\u2019s leadership on this central objective \u2013 as well as your mediation role to help create the conditions for dialogue between the United States and Iran.<\/p>\n
And I want to send a loud and clear message to the parties:<\/p>\n
We need maximum restraint and diplomatic solutions. If the saber-rattling we are witnessing now translates itself into a major escalation, the situation in the region can get out of control.<\/p>\n
And navigational rights and freedoms in accordance with international law must be fully restored in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab.<\/p>\n
The war in Gaza and the disruptions in the Red Sea continue to hurt trade, strain the regional economy, and affect the daily lives of Egyptians.<\/p>\n
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL\u00a0 — REMARKS TO THE PRESS Cairo, 26 October 2026 [as delivered] As-salam-alaikum. Let me begin by thanking you, Honourable Foreign Minister, and the government and people of Egypt for your warm welcome. This is indeed my ninth visit to Egypt as United Nations Secretary-General. I first came soon after taking office in […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[6962],"document-source":[5352],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,2005,1741,1797,6845,2137,6866,6771,6251],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-320575","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-statement","document-source-secretary-general","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-peace-process","document-subject-protection-of-civilians","document-subject-settlements","document-subject-settler-violence","document-subject-two-state-solution","document-subject-west-bank","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/320575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/320575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320579,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/320575\/revisions\/320579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=320575"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=320575"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=320575"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=320575"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=320575"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=320575"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=320575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}