Israel UN envoy demands Guterres’ resignation after Gaza comments

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to resign.

Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, the envoy accused Guterres of “expressing an understanding” for the “terrorism and murder” of Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel.

In preceding comments to the security council, Guterres had called for an immediate cease-fire and decried “clear violations of international humanitarian law” being witnessed in Gaza.”

He said Palestinians had been subjected to decades of occupation, before adding: “It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.”

Guterres said the risk of the Gaza war spreading through the region is increasing as societies splinter and tensions threaten to boil over. He called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to deliver desperately needed food, water, medicine and fuel and appealed “to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives.”

Without naming Israel directly, the UNSG stressed that “the rules of war must be obeyed”. The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify “the horrifying and unprecedented October 7 acts of terror” by Hamas in Israel, he said, and demanded the immediate release of all hostages.

But Guterres also stressed that the acts by Hamas did not justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

The UNSG called Israel’s constant bombardment of Gaza and the level of destruction and civilian casualties “alarming.”

Protecting civilians “is paramount in any armed conflict,” he said.

“Protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than one million people to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water, no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south itself,” the UNSG told the council.

Erdan responded with outrage tot the UNSG’s comments taking to social media platform X and posting that Guterres’ comments meant he was “not fit to lead the UN.”

“I call on him to resign immediately,” Erdan wrote. “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 UN chief’s remarks also angered Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who pointed his finger at Guterres and raised his voice to recount graphic accounts of civilians, including young children, who were murdered on October 7.

“Mr Secretary-General, in what world do you live?” Cohen said. “Definitely, this is not our world.”

Posting on platform X, Cohen said, “After the October 7th massacre, there is no place for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased off the face of the planet!”

Cohen cancelled a planned meeting with Guterres after the clash.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 5,000 according to reports by the UN while UNICEF reported 2,360 child fatalities and over 5,000 injured children. Nearly two-thirds of Gaza’s health facilities have ceased functioning the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Gaza health officials said more than 700 people had died in Israeli airstrikes over the past day.

The stepped-up attacks, and the rapidly rising death toll came as Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the hundreds of hostages it captured during its devastating 7 October attack on towns in southern Israel.

Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel began its siege of the territory following the attacks. A third small aid convoy entered Gaza on Monday carrying only a tiny fraction of the supplies aid groups say is necessary.

The United Nations said aid distribution would soon grind to a halt when it can no longer fuel trucks inside Gaza with Israel’s barring the entry of fuel.

On Tuesday, Israel said it had launched 400 airstrikes, killing Hamas commanders and hitting militants as they were preparing to launch rockets into Israel and striking command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft. The previous day, Israel reported 320 strikes.

The Palestinian official news agency, WAFA, said many of the airstrikes hit residential buildings, some of them in southern Gaza where Israel had told civilians to take shelter.

An overnight strike hit a four-story residential building in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least 32 people and wounding scores of others, according to survivors.

Israel says it does not target civilians and that Hamas militants are using them as cover for their attacks.