Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is a persona non grata in Israel, and that “he will be banned from entering it.”
According to Reuters, “Guterres on Tuesday issued a brief statement after the missile attack condemning “the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation.” Earlier on Tuesday, Israel had sent troops into southern Lebanon.
Katz pointed out in a post on the social media platform “X” that this comes against the backdrop of Guterres’ response to the Iranian attack on “Israel”, and “not clearly condemning it,” considering that this is “part of his anti-Israel policy” since the beginning of the war.
Today, I have declared UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres persona non grata in Israel and banned him from entering the country.
Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step…
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) October 2, 2024
According to the Israeli Media, two senior Israeli officials doubted Katz’s authority to prevent Guterres from entering Israel, and one of them said, This is just a move to create tension.
It is noteworthy that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran confirmed that the missiles it launched achieved 90% of their targets. In contrast, sources in the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon confirmed to the media that the Israeli bases of Hatzerim, Nevatim, and Makhtesh Ramon were out of service, after sustaining severe damage.
António Guterres calls for halting Israeli aggression against Lebanon. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, stated in a statement that:
“I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation.
This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”
Guterres criticized in the United Nations press release on the Israeli military’ continued air strikes across Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, adding: “The level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally intolerable. Today, a growing number of Governments and others feel entitled to a “get out of jail free” card. They can trample international law. They can violate the United Nations Charter.”
Guterres announced that Israel rejected a proposal from the United States and France and gained the support of other countries for a ceasefire that would allow negotiations to take place.
He added that it is time to stop the hostilities in Lebanon, which will pave the way for diplomatic efforts for sustainable peace, stressing that it is time to stop the disgusting cycle of escalation that is leading the peoples of the Middle East directly to the abyss.
