UN General Assembly 2026: War on Iran and Gaza genocide dominate

What Happened

At the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session by saying the world is entering an irreversible multipolar world and calling for an end to fighting across the Middle East. Guterres said ceasefires announced in the Middle East were 'in name only' and had amounted to 'lesser fires', with civilians continuing to pay the price. He appealed to leaders to use the high-level week for de-escalation and dialogue, and warned that violence, displacement, and settlement expansion by Israel in the occupied West Bank are 'bulldozing the paths to peace and raising the spectre of ethnic cleansing'. He also urged the international community to work toward a two-state solution. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the first national leader to address the assembly, condemned what he called Israel's genocide in Gaza, saying nearly 74,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, have been killed. Lula blamed the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for genocide and said Israeli civilians pay the price for Hamas's terrorist acts. Lula also criticised efforts to undermine the International Criminal Court and moves to sanction UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese, invoking former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as statesmen. Jordan's King Abdullah II said Israel is guilty of war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, accused its government of inciting a religious war and having territorial ambitions beyond Palestine, and said the US-Israeli war on Iran shows how regional conflict disrupts energy and grocery prices from Mumbai to Madrid to Minnesota.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The opening speeches show mounting diplomatic isolation for Israel and the United States over Gaza and the ICC, with major Global South and Arab leaders using the UN General Assembly to frame Israeli actions as genocide and war crimes. The inclusion of Iran alongside Palestine in the same high-level criticisms reflects regional escalation and economic spillover, while Guterres's final address underscores UN alarm over eroding multilateralism and ineffective ceasefires.

Watch For

Monitor the rest of the UNGA high-level week for responses from US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Iranian representatives; watch for any General Assembly resolutions or votes on Gaza, ICC cooperation, or Iran; track whether ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant produce new state actions, and whether US sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese remain lifted after the federal court ruling.