Israel calls for resignation of UNSG Antonio Guterres after he tells Security Council Hamas attacks did not happen in vacuum
The Hindu
Israel's FM cancels meeting with UN Sec-Gen after remarks on Hamas "not happening in a vacuum" anger Israel. FM Cohen: "We are fighting for Israel & the free world. We must eliminate Hamas totally." UN Sec-Gen's spokesperson: "SG will meet with family representatives of hostages held in Gaza."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s comment to the Security Council that attacks by Hamas “did not happen in a vacuum” angered Israel, which called for the UN chief’s resignation and apology.
Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen, who participated in a Security Council ministerial meeting on the Israel-Gaza situation in United Nations, was scheduled to meet Mr. Guterres later Tuesday afternoon in the UN headquarters.
Mr. Cohen cancelled his meeting with Mr. Guterres after remarks by the UN chief to the Security Council angered Israel, accusing him of “tolerating and justifying” terrorism.
Addressing the council, Mr. Guterres said the situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour and the war in Gaza is raging and risks spiralling throughout the region.
The UN chief said it is "important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation".
"They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” Mr. Guterres said in the meeting, which was also addressed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” Mr. Guterres said.
