“The two-state solution remains the only viable alternative to preserve peace,” he said. “Without a two-state solution, there will be no peace in the Middle East and extremism will expand everywhere in the world, with consequences that I consider extremely, extremely negative.”

On September 15, the General Assembly voted 142-10 in favor of a resolution endorsing a two-state solution to the conflict, which has dragged on for nearly 80 years and escalated after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. 

Israel and the United States were among the 10 states that opposed the measure.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed there will be “no Palestinian state,” while Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, dismissed the vote as a “one-sided” and “hollow gesture.”

Guterres’ remarks came the same day a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians under the Genocide Convention, finding that four of the five acts that define genocide have occurred in Gaza.

The findings are the strongest yet in documenting the scale of Israel’s actions.

“It is not in the attributions of the Secretary-General to do the legal determination of genocide. That belongs to the [appropriate] judicial entities, namely the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” Guterres said. 

He added that the situation in Gaza is “morally, politically, and legally intolerable.”

“The fact that I have not the competence to do the legal determination of genocide doesn't mean that I do not consider that what's happening in Gaza, after the horrific attacks by Hamas in October two years ago, what happens in Gaza today is horrendous,” he said. “This is something we cannot forget, independently of the names that are given. The truth is that this is something that is morally, politically, and legally intolerable.”

More than one in 10 Palestinians — over 200,000 of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents — have been killed or wounded, according to Israel’s former military chief. Palestinian authorities peg the toll to 65,000 dead and more than 164,000 injured.

Trump, despite often claiming strong personal ties with Xi, Putin and Kim, appeared unsettled by the display. He dismissed the parade as a “conspiracy” among the three leaders and read it as a direct message from the world’s largest standing military — America’s main rival in firepower.

“I thought it was a beautiful ceremony. I thought it was very, very impressive,” Trump said. “But I understood the reason they were doing it — they were hoping I was watching, and I was watching.”

For Ila Joshi, an international relations scholar focused on China and India, the Victory Day event was meant as a blunt signal to Washington.

“It was definitely a show of might and strength and a very traditional understanding of power that we saw,” Joshi told Global South World. 

The September 3 parade marked the anniversary of the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. For more than 70 minutes, the People ’s Liberation Army showcased domestically built missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weapons. 

Notably, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped the ceremony, despite attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China days earlier.

Against the backdrop of Trump’s renaming order and China’s martial display, Joshi argued that world leaders remain trapped in a narrow view of power.

“ Foreign policy being understood only in terms of war is again something which is very disturbing,” she said. “I think that the very masculinities which were being shown off there, those were something which I guess we also need to rethink about.” 

While the parade and summit stirred talk of an emerging anti-Western bloc, they also highlighted the tightening alignment of countries with strained relations with Washington.

That, Joshi suggested, should serve as a warning for Trump.

“Trump's erratic behaviour is not going to solve the issues,” Joshi said. “They should actually contemplate now what has been done by the Trump administration.”

“Even if it is Trump, I guess present Trump is intelligent enough to understand the repercussions. Now, he should be intelligent enough not to repeat those mistakes.”

"There's no doubt that these extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil have crossed the line and that is why we have declared Iran's ambassador to Australia persona non grata, as well as three other Iranian officials and they will have seven days to leave the country," Wong said.

"Even before today the Albanese government had taken stronger action on Iran than any previous Australian government, and we have long known that Iran and its proxies tried to destabilise countries in our region and beyond," she added.

Wong also condemned Iran's attacks for damaging social harmony in Australia. "Iran has sought to undermine the cohesion of our community, they have tried to divide the Australian community and they've done so with acts of aggression that not only sought to terrify Australians but put Australian lives in danger," she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said intelligence services reached a "deeply disturbing conclusion" that Iran directed at least two antisemitic attacks.

He said Tehran was behind a fire attack on the Lewis Continental Cafe in Sydney’s Bondi suburb in October 2024 and an arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024. No physical injuries were reported in either incident.

Iran was likely responsible for other antisemitic incidents in Australia, said Albanese.

"These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil," Albanese said. "They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community. It is totally unacceptable."

Australia is preparing legislation to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.

It has withdrawn its ambassador from Tehran and suspended operations in its embassy, which has been operating since 1968.

Australia will keep its diplomatic ties with Iran despite the withdrawal, according to Wong.

He also urged Malaysian businesses to contribute to the cause.

“I will ask friends from our national companies to also show concern. They have helped before, some have already provided various forms of assistance,” he added.

Anwar strongly criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his speech, calling him “cruel” and accusing his government of justifying violence against children .

“Netanyahu and his group are truly not sane! Cruel! They even justify [their wrongdoings] by claiming that children are Hamas. A two-year-old running [they say] is Hamas. They are sick,” he said.

Malaysia has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause, maintaining its position of not recognising Israel and consistently voicing opposition to Israeli military actions in Gaza.

Anwar's pledge comes days after the declaration of famine in Gaza, where more than half a million people are on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.