Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the opening of the 2023 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in New York today:

It is my privilege to join this meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. I congratulate the Chair, Ambassador Cheikh Niang, and other members of the Bureau on your election. And I commend all of you for your tireless commitment.

We meet as the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is at its most combustible in years. Just this morning, we had more deeply concerning news. An operation by Israeli security forces and ensuing clash in Nablus left 10 Palestinians dead and over 80 injured.