Channel 12 News’ US correspondent Yuna Leibzon on Thursday asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres what he would have done if a terrorist organization had launched a murderous attack against his people, given his ongoing claims that Israel is carrying out “collective punishment” in Gaza.
“I think there is something wrong in the way the military operations are being conducted,” the UN chief replied, to which Leibzon pointed out that Hamas hides within civilian populations.
“I have condemned the use of human shields. I even said that it is a violation of international humanitarian law, but the same international humanitarian law is clear that even when there are human shields, there is an obligation to protect civilians, so in that regard, I think we are abiding by principles without double standards,” said Guterres.
Since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza, the UN chief has been repeatedly critical of Israel. In one incident, he said that Hamas’ attack on Israel “did not happen in a vacuum” and appeared to blame Israel for the attack.
After his remarks were widely condemned, Guterres claimed his comments were misinterpreted and that he had indeed condemned Hamas.
He later criticized Israel once again, claiming that the high numbers of civilian casualties reported from Gaza show that there is something "clearly wrong" with Israel's response to the Hamas attack on October 7.
Several weeks ago, Guterres wrote on X, “The longer the conflict in Gaza continues, the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation. We cannot see in Lebanon what we are seeing in Gaza. And we cannot allow what has been happening in Gaza to continue.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, later responded to the UN chief and suggested he call out Iran and its terrorist proxies.
“Mr. Secretary-General, despite your cryptic words, what is happening in the Middle East didn’t erupt out of the blue. Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, under Iran’s direction, are driving the region to a point of no return,” wrote Erdan.
“Talk to the person solely to blame for all the terror and violence – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I’m sure he’d love to speak with you,” added Erdan.
“The time has come for you to differentiate between good and evil. The very least you can do is call out the terrorists. Stop whitewashing the crimes of Iran and its terror proxies!” concluded the Israeli ambassador.