Israel announces UN director ‘persona non grata’
Date
10/3/2024 5:56:44 AM
(MENAFN) Israel has officially designated United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as persona non grata following his calls for a ceasefire in response to Iran's missile attacks on the country. This declaration comes after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran launched multiple missile strikes, claiming they were retaliatory actions against recent Israeli operations that resulted in the deaths of key figures from Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as an Iranian general in Lebanon.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced the decision on X, criticizing Guterres for failing to condemn what he described as Iran’s “abhorrent attack.” Katz stated, “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 foot on Israeli soil.” He also accused Guterres of not denouncing the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 and failing to classify the group as a terrorist organization.
In his remarks, Katz expressed that Guterres would be remembered as a “stain on the history of the UN” for allegedly supporting terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. This escalation in rhetoric follows Guterres’s own statements regarding the conflict, where he expressed grave concern about the growing tensions in Lebanon and called for an immediate ceasefire, emphasizing that “this must stop” and highlighting the need to de-escalate the violence in the region.
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