Israel has barred UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres from entering the country after accusing him of not “unequivocally” condemning Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday night.
The move comes after Iran fired over 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night after Israel escalated its war with Iranian proxy, Hezbollah.
On Wednesday morning, October 2, Guterres issued a brief statement referencing the “latest attacks in the Middle East”, calling for an end to “escalation after escalation”.
In response, in a statement on Wednesday night, October 2, Israel’s foreign affairs minister Israel Katz wrote on X;
“Today, I have declared UN secretary-general António Guterres 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 foot on Israeli soil.
Katz further criticized Guterres for his failure to denounce the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which involved massacres and sexual violence, and for not advancing decisions to officially label Hamas a terrorist organization.
“This is a secretary-general who has yet to denounce the massacre and sexual atrocities committed by Hamas murderers on 7 October, nor has he led any efforts to declare them a terrorist organization.” he said
“A secretary-general who gives backing to terrorists, rapists, and murderers from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now Iran – the mothership of global terror – will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN.
“Israel will continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity, with or without António Guterres.”
Amid ongoing fears of an all-out war in the region, Israel sent more troops into southern Lebanon to target the Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Wednesday morning, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “Iran made a big mistake… and it will pay for it”.
According to a report by Axios, Israel is preparing to target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic sites.