The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katzannounced this Wednesday that it has decided to declare the UN Secretary General persona ‘non grata’, Antonio Guterres, and prohibit his entry into the country, since he considers that he did not condemn “unequivocally” the Iranian attack on Tuesday.
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“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s atrocious attack against Israel does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil. This is an anti-Israel secretary general who supports terrorists, rapists and murderers,” Katz warned in a statement in which made the announcement.
Last night, minutes after the end of the attack, Guterres condemned “the growth of the conflict in Middle East with one escalation after another” and reiterated the need for a ceasefire.
Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s atrocious attack on Israel does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil.
“This has to stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,” he wrote without directly mentioning Iran.
Minister Katz also accused the UN leader of not having denounced the atrocities of Hamas during the multiple attack on October 7 and “the sexual atrocities committed” by its militiamen.
A report from the UN Office for Human Rightson February 23, confirmed that the Islamist group Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups, committed large-scale violations of International Law on October 7 and 8, including abuse, sexual assault and torture.
Likewise, on October 24, 2023, Guterres in a session of the UN Security Council condemned the attack by the Palestinian group that left 1,200 dead and 251 kidnappedbut he clarified that these actions did not come from nowhere but after decades of occupation.
Those statements, at the time, also caused indignation among the Israeli Government, which, even then, declared the UN a person ‘non grata’.
“We will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives,” Israel’s ambassador to the organization, Gilad Erdan, said in retaliation.
This is not the first time that the Foreign Minister has taken action against political leaders who criticize Israeli policies. Last February, Brazilian President Lula da Silva was also declared persona non grata after describing the war in Gaza as a genocide comparable to the Nazi Holocaust.
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