UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday refused to legally define the situation in the Gaza Strip as genocide, in the wake of a UN report which concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israel has committed acts of genocide against in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Speaking at a press conference, Guterres described the situation as "horrendous" and stated that the power to make a legal determination of genocide "belongs to the adequate judicial entities, namely the International Court of Justice."
Guterres, at the same time, called the situation in Gaza City a "systematic destruction" and claimed, "We are seeing massive killing of civilians in a way that I do not remember in any conflict since I am Secretary-General."
He accused Israel of placing "impediments to aid distribution" and issuing "repeated displacement orders," calling it "something that is morally, politically and legally intolerable."
The UN chief expressed his hopes for a permanent ceasefire and the release of hostages, but then blamed Israel for the lack of progress. "But at the present moment, it looks like Israel is determined to go up to the end and is not open to a serious negotiation for a ceasefire, with the dramatic consequence - from the Israeli point of view - that it is also not allowing for the release of hostages that we have always said should be immediate and unconditional." He concluded, "With the attack that took place in Qatar, it doesn't look that Israel is interested in a serious negotiation for a ceasefire and release of hostages."
Guterres has been regularly critical of Israel’s counterterrorism operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.
Several weeks after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre, the UN Secretary-General said that the attack on Israel “did not happen in a vacuum” and appeared to blame Israel for the attack.
After his remarks were widely condemned, the UN chief claimed his comments were misinterpreted and that he had indeed condemned Hamas.
He recently criticized Israel’s renewal of strikes on the Gaza Strip and said he was “outraged” by them.
In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote, “We are outraged that you, Antonio Guterres, are the Secretary-General of the UN.”
“Not a word about the fact that Hamas rejected two American proposals to extend the ceasefire and release more hostages—two proposals that Israel accepted,” added Marmorstein.
“Not a word about the fact that Hamas exploits the transfer of goods to Gaza to rebuild its war machine in order to further attack Israel.”
“Not a word about UNRWA, which, under your leadership, employs Hamas terrorists, and its facilities were used by Hamas to hold hostages. Indeed, we are outraged by your moral bankruptcy,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson concluded.