Israeli envoy to the UN has stated that the nation will not grant visas to UN staff, including Antonio Guterres, as tensions between the two bodies grow.
Reports from Israeli sources said that Gilad Erdan made the announcement on Wednesday as the consequences from the UN chief’s address at the Security Council the day before persisted.
Indirect criticism of Israel for directing the removal of residents from the northern to the southern Gaza Strip came from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The assault on Israel by Hamas on October 7, he added, did not occur “in a vacuum,” since the Palestinian people had been subject to long decades of oppressive occupation.
The quite moderate stance of Guterres was embraced by many nations. But Israel was “incensed,” and its representatives demanded that the UN leader step down. Journalists said that Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who was present for the discussion, “was so upset.” He called off a scheduled Tuesday afternoon appointment with the Guterres.
This kind of response toward the secretary-general is absolutely rare. Israel would decline to provide UN representatives visas as a result of his [Guterres’s] words, Erdan informed Army Radio. “We have already refused a visa for Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.”
Erdan claimed on X that the United Nations head has shown sympathy for crime and terrorism through his statement. subsequently, in a purported effort to demonstrate that he had criticized both sides of the war in Gaza conflict, Guterres uploaded this excerpt from his address on X.
The grotesque actions by Hamas cannot be justified by the grievances of the Palestinian people. The punishment of the Palestinian people as a whole cannot be justified by those horrible assaults, he explained in the footage.
Campaign against Guterres
Israel’s demand that the UN secretary-general step down has been denounced by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called it a “unprovoked attack.”
Israel’s stance is an “extension” of its “disrespect and lack of devotion” to the UN, its founding document, and resolutions pertaining to Palestine, according to a post made by the Palestinian government on X.
On October 7, Hamas militants descended onto Israel. Israeli sources claim that at least 1,400 people were killed in the raid, while over 220 were taken prisoner. Israeli bombings in retaliation have killed some 5,800 Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the majority of them civilians.
To try and obtain help over the border between Egypt and Gaza, Guterres went to the Rafah crossing last Thursday. During his remarks, he praised the arrival of the first three relief convoys.
However, according to the UN head, it was just “a drop of aid in an ocean of need.” The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) forewarned that a scarcity of fuel would cause it to suspend operations on Wednesday. “To ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages. I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” explained Guterres.
Israel, which is supported by the US, has refused demands to halt the attack, claiming that doing so would just give Hamas time to reorganize. The US rejected a draft resolution on the issue last week because it did not fully back Israel’s ability to confront Hamas, according to the US.
A fresh resolution sponsored by the US and the Security Council that “incorporates substantive feedback” was requested by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
