UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 1 -- General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urgently appealed for measures to reduce tensions in Gaza and its neighboring regions.

"I call for urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and spare the region from more violence before it is too late," the top UN official told the meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

"As we seek to address mounting needs in Gaza, we also remain focused on the deteriorating situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem," said the secretary-general. "I am extremely alarmed by the high levels of settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian attacks against Israelis also continue."

"All of this violence must ...