Tokyo, August 21 (QNA) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after the Israeli entity announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City.

"It is vital to reach immediately a ceasefire in Gaza," that was necessary "to avoid the death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause," Guterres said in Japan where he is attending the Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

Guterres urged Israel to reverse a decision to expand "illegal" settlement construction in the West Bank. (QNA)