Hamas massacre “did not happen in a vacuum, they happened after 56 years of occupation.”
By Meir Dolev, World Israel News
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres blamed Israel for the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas, saying the burning, butcherings and beheadings of of 1,400 people, and kidnapping over 200 more, “did not happen in a vacuum.”
“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” he said in a Security Council meeting on the war.
While he acknowledged that “nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring, and kidnapping of civilians, or the launching of rockets against civilian targets” he also urged for an immediate ceasefire, leaving Hamas in control of the Gaza.
“All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions,” he said.
“No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law,” Guterres said.
Guterres described the aid entering Gaza as “a drop of aid in an ocean of need,” warning of impending fuel shortages. “To ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages, I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” he declared.
His speech was met with resounding condemnation by Israeli officials.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen slammed Guterres for living on another planet.
“Mr. Secretary General, in what world do you live?” Cohen said. “Definitely this is not our world.”
He then played a recording at the security council of a Hamas terrorist bragging to his parents that he “is proud that he has the blood of 10 [Jews] that he murdered.”
“Mr. Secretary General, this is the world that we live [in],” he said.
Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called Guterres’s remarks “shocking,” “horrible,” and proves “conclusively” that he is completely “disconnected from the reality of our region.”
He called on Guterres to resign, saying “is not fit to lead the UN.”
Guterres’ remarks “constitute a justification for terrorism and murder,” Erdan said. “It’s sad that a person with such views is the head of an organization that arose after the Holocaust.”
Minister Benny Gantz also censured Guterres’ remarks, stating: “The days when the UN Secretary-General supports terrorism are dark days for the world. There is no way to justify a massacre of innocent civilians. Anyone who is not on the right side of history will be judged by it. Anyone who justifies terrorism is not fit to speak for the world.”