UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once again caused an uproar on Friday, after he mentioned the sexual crimes committed by Hamas in its October 7 attack in Israel in the same breath as “reports of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees”.
The UN chief made the remarks in a speech he gave during an event on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The crimes committed by Hamas were confirmed in a report released by UN Special Rapporteur Pramila Patten on Monday.
UN experts have accused IDF soldiers of raping Palestinian Arab women and girls in detention but have not provided evidence to back those claims.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said in response to Guterres’ comparison, "Today at the event to mark International Women's Day at the United Nations, the Secretary-General once again openly demonstrated his bias and hatred against Israel."
Ambassador Erdan added, "What kind of twisted conscience does the Secretary-General have to dare to compare evidence of sexual abuse, rape and war crimes that Israeli women went through on October 7 and that our hostages are still going through, and between false and unsubstantiated claims of physical searches of Palestinian women suspected of terrorism?"
Guterres has been repeatedly critical of Israel’s fight against Hamas in Gaza in response to the October 7 massacre.
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.
More recently, the UN chief was pressed by Channel 12 News correspondent Yuna Leibzon about his ongoing claims that Israel is carrying out “collective punishment” in Gaza.
Asked by Leibzon what he would have done if a terrorist organization had launched a murderous attack against his people, the UN chief replied, “I think there is something wrong in the way the military operations are being conducted.”
When Leibzon pointed out that Hamas hides within civilian populations, Guterres retorted, “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.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)