TEL AVIV, Israel
A day after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remarked that the attack by Hamas on Israel "did not happen in a vacuum", Tel Aviv has struck back at the organisation by announcing that it would deny visas to UN officials.
Israel’s ambassador to the
United Nations Gilad Erdan said the move follows the remarks by Guterres that
"appeared to justify Hamas’s brutal assault on Israel."
"Due to his remarks, we
will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives," Erdan was quoted by The
Times of Israel. "We have already refused a visa for
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has
come to teach them a lesson," he added.
Guterres made the remarks on
Tuesday at the UN Security Council meeting. "It is important to also
recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum," Guterres
said.
The comments had irked Israel
which asked Guterres to resign. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen cancelled a meeting
with Guterres, and Minister Benny Gantz labelled the UN chief a "terror
apologist."
After the remarks courted
controversy, Guterres walked back on his remarks. He took to X to post on
Wednesday: "The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the
horrific attacks by Hamas. Those horrendous attacks cannot justify the collective
punishment of the Palestinian people."
The Israel Defense Forces says
it struck several Syrian military targets after rockets were fired from Syria
toward Israeli communities in the Golan Heights. The IDF says fighter jets hit
"military infrastructure" and mortar launching sites.
According to the Syrian state
news agency (SANA), the attacks killed eight soldiers and wounded seven more.
Citing a military source, SANA said Israel's "aerial aggression"
targeted a number of military positions near the southwestern city of Deraa.
The strike also caused material damage, it reported.
Meanwhile, over 80 people were
killed in overnight strikes on Gaza, claimed Hamas. The statement by the
militant group said "more than 80 people were martyred and hundreds
wounded in massacres committed by the occupation raids" overnight.
Three Palestinians were also
killed in West Bank after an overnight raid. According to the IDF, the armed
Palestinians "fired and hurled explosive devices" at its forces in
Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank. Following this, the forces
retaliated striking them with a drone.
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