Israel escalates feud with UN following Guterres comments on Hamas, vows to ‘teach them a lesson’
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Top United Nations (UN) official denied a visa after Secretary-General António Guterres comments on Hamas Attacks riles Israel
Top United Nations (UN) official denied a visa after Secretary-General António Guterres comments on Hamas Attacks riles Israel.
Israel said Wednesday it has denied a visa to a senior United Nations official to “teach them a lesson,” escalating the country’s growing dispute with the U.N.
This comes after António Guterres said Hamas attacks had to be seen in the context of ‘years of suffocating occupation’
Speaking at a UN general debate on the Middle East in New York, Guterres created fury when he said: “It is important to … recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”
He also said no injustice to the Palestinians could justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.
In response, Israel’s U.N. ambassador Gilad Erdan told Israeli radio on Wednesday morning that the country has denied a visa to the U.N. Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths, following Guterres’ comments.
“Due to his remarks, we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives … The time has come to teach them a lesson,” Erdan told Army Radio, reported Times of Israel.
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Guterres followed up in the early hours of Wednesday morning, saying that the “horrendous attacks” by Hamas “cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
Guterres’ initial “vacuum” remarks were slammed by Erdan, who said “The Secretary-General is completely disconnected from the reality in our region” and called for his resignation. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also announced he would no longer meet with Guterres.
Some top Western officials have been appealing to Israel to mitigate its response against civilians in Gaza, a coastal strip of land where more than two million Palestinians live and where Hamas militants are in control.
Following Hamas’ deadly attack in early October, which killed more than 1,400 people, Israel has carried out relentless retaliatory airstrikes and put the Gaza Strip under a “complete siege,” cutting off fuel, electricity, and water.
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