NEW YORK – Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 did not happen in a vacuum, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday, triggering calls for his resignation by Tel Aviv.
Addressing the Security Council ministerial meeting on the Middle East in New York, Guterres said 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,” Guterres told the meeting chaired by Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
He, however, noted that the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the “appalling” attacks by Hamas, and those attacks cannot justify collective punishment for the Palestinians.
The UN boss also said no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law. Even as he expressed deep alarm over the “relentless bombardment” of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip by Israeli forces and appealed to all to “pull back from the brink” before the war escalates further.
“The situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour. The war in Gaza is raging and risks spiralling throughout the region. Divisions are splintering societies. Tensions threaten to boil over,” Guterres said.
“On this UN Day, at this critical hour, I appeal to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther,” he added.
This triggered angry reaction from Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and the Permanent Representative to the UN Gilad Erdan, who called for his resignation.
“The @UN Secretary-General, who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN. I call on him to resign immediately,” Amb Erdan said on X.
“There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words,” the envoy added.
Speaking at a press conference later where he paraded relatives of abductees, Erdan said a secretary general who seeks justification for “the terrible massacre committed in us cannot remain in his position”.
“Every day from now that he continues in his position is a disgrace and proves that the UN has no right to exist,” he said.
On his part, Cohen said, ” These kids witnessed horror that cannot be described… Mr. Secretary General: In what world do you live? Definitely this is not our world”.
At least 2,000 children have been killed in Gaza over 17 days, according to one aid agency. They are among the more than 5,700 people killed in the Israel bombardment, according to Palestinian health officials.
