Israel denying UN officials visas after Guterres remarks over Hamas assault

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.