United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world “cannot have double standards” on the Middle East, adding that the same principles should be applied everywhere, Al Jazeera reports.

“We need to apply the [UN] Charter, International Law, and International Humanitarian Law,” Guterres said.

“We need peace, but we need peace on the way to a two-state solution. We need peace that guarantees the right of the Palestinian people, as the right of the Israeli people, to have a State, and for the two States to live in peace and security.”

“And at the same time we need to address the immediate crises. Condemning, as we have condemned, the Hamas attacks, but recognising that they do not justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. So we need immediately a ceasefire, the immediate release of the hostages, and effective humanitarian aid to Gaza.”