Guterres calls for restraint and diplomacy during Cairo visit

UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed journalists in Cairo on 26 October. Thanking Egypt for mediation and humanitarian efforts, he called on parties to regional conflicts to exercise maximum restraint and pursue diplomatic solutions.

He stressed civilian protection and the need to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza. His remarks also expressed concern about settlement expansion and violence in the occupied West Bank. These are the UN chief’s assessments and demands, recorded in the official transcript.

Guterres separately warned against further escalation involving the United States and Iran, and urged restoration of navigational rights and freedoms under international law around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab. The remarks did not announce a specific new ceasefire agreement.

On an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, he reiterated support for a two-State solution. The development is the position expressed during the 26 October visit; it does not establish that the parties have reached a political settlement or that the humanitarian problems he identified have been resolved.

Primary source: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/unsg-press-statement-26oct26/.

Cover: archival view of the UN General Assembly during António Guterres’s address in September 2026. UN Photo/Loey Felipe. This is not a photograph of the 26 October event. Photo source; UN editorial photo use.