Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, following Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He said he would start denying visas to the delegates to enter the country.
On Tuesday, there was a UN report on the war between Israel and Hamas. “It is also important to recognize that Hamas attacks do not come out of nowhere,” Guterres said at the Security Council meeting.
The UN Secretary-General added that “nothing can justify the deliberate killing, attack and kidnapping of civilians” and that “Hamas’ brutal attacks on the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot be justified”.
The statement was seen by Israel as justification for the October 7 attack, in which about 1,400 people died and more than 200 were taken hostage, and Israel called for Guterres’ resignation.
“We have already refused a visa to Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths,” Erden said. The Times of Israel. Time to teach them a lesson.
The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify Hamas’ brutal attacks.
Those brutal attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
— Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 25, 2023
Guterres did one New release On the social network X (formerly Twitter) about the conflict, he repeated that “the complaints of the Palestinian people cannot justify the terrible attacks of Hamas” and “these terrible attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN accused Guterres of being “out of touch with reality”, an expression he had already used in July, when the UN secretary-general criticized the Hebrew government for using excessive force in an operation in Jenin in the West Bank. .
Guterres later highlighted the impact of Israeli military action, including airstrikes and ground incursions with bulldozers, which injured more than a hundred civilians, displaced thousands, damaged schools and hospitals, and cut water and electricity networks. .
The UN Secretary-General criticized Israel at the time for not allowing the wounded to access medical care, something already pointed out by many humanitarian organizations. Israel denied access.
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