Israel says it will not give visas to UN representatives and redoubles its criticism of Guterres

The Israeli representative to the United Nations affirms that "the time has come to teach them a lesson"

MADRID, 25 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Israeli authorities announced this Wednesday that they will deny the delivery of visas to representatives of the United Nations following the latest statements by the organization's secretary general, António Guterres, who said on Tuesday that the "horrible" attacks carried out on October 7 by the Movement of Islamic Resistance (Hamas) "did not emerge from nowhere", words harshly criticized from Tel Aviv.

"Due to his words, we will not give visas to UN representatives," said Israel's permanent representative to the organization, Gilad Erdan, who confirmed that this decision has already been adopted in the case of the Under-Secretary-General for Affairs. United Nations Humanitarians, Martin Griffiths.

"We have already rejected a visa for the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths," he said in statements to Army Radio. "The time has come to teach them a lesson," stressed Erdan, who on Tuesday called for Guterres' resignation.

Thus, Erdan stressed that there is no possible "justification" nor can one show "understanding" towards "the most terrible actions against the citizens of Israel", taking into account that the attacks, which left nearly 1,400 dead and more than 220 kidnapped, were perpetrated by "a declared terrorist organization."

The Israeli Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, joined the criticism, asking Guterres "what world he lives in" and maintaining that Israel not only has "the right to defend itself", but also a "duty", since it feels that it is waging war in the name of the "free world." Later, he announced that he will not meet with Guterres as a gesture of protest.

Guterres indicated before the UN Security Council that the "horrible" attacks "did not come out of nowhere", since "the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation", in a context in which "their hopes for achieving a political solution fades away.

After this and in the face of a wave of criticism from Israel, he published a message on his account on the social network ", although he insisted that "these horrifying attacks cannot justify collective punishment against the Palestinian people."

For its part, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry has stated that Israeli criticism against Guterres is "an extension of the lack of respect" of the Israeli authorities towards the international organization. Likewise, he has indicated that the position of the Israeli authorities is "unjustified" and "premeditated."

In this sense, he noted that this is "a new Israeli attempt to neutralize the role of the Secretary General in his legal capacity, as well as his position in relation to International Law and the United Nations Charter", highlighting that his role and its representatives "are well known for working to stop the open and destructive war of occupation."