Addressing Tuesday’s debate within the Council on the worsening disaster in Israel and Palestine, the UN chief mentioned that though nothing might justify the “appalling” assaults by Hamas of seven October which triggered the siege and bombardment of Gaza, it was vital to acknowledge they “didn’t occur in a vacuum” and didn’t justify the collective punishment of Palestinians.

Following Secretary-General António Guterres’ briefing on Tuesday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan tweeted that, in impact, Mr. Guterres’s speech had sought to justify Hamas’s brutal assault which left some 1,400 lifeless, primarily civilians.

Resignation demand

He demanded that the UN chief resign, and later mentioned that Israel would now withhold visas from UN officers.

Israel’s international minister Eli Cohen additionally accused Mr. Guterres of justifying terrorism and cancelled a deliberate bilateral assembly with the UN chief on Tuesday.

In an announcement to correspondents on the stakeout exterior the Security Council on Wednesday morning, Mr. Guterres mentioned he was “shocked by the misrepresentation by a few of my assertion.”

Acknowledging that he had certainly spoken of Palestinian grievances, he burdened he had additionally mentioned within the Council that “the grievances of the Palestinian individuals can’t justify the appalling assaults by Hamas.”

With out referring to Israeli diplomats particularly, the UN chief mentioned it was “essential to set the report straight – particularly out of respect to the victims and to their households.”