António Guterres, the UN secretary general, was locked in a bitter row with Israel on Wednesday, saying he was shocked that the Israeli government had misrepresented remarks he had made to the UN to suggest he had justified the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October.
Israel has called for his resignation, accusing him of a blood libel and announcing that it was withdrawing travel visas for UN officials, including the UN humanitarian coordinator, Martin Griffiths.
The personal tensions between Guterres and Israeli officials comes as UNRWA, the UN humanitarian agency for Palestinian refugees, warned that it was hours away from being forced to close its operations in Gaza, including the provision of hospital care, due to Israel’s blockade on fuel. Israel also vowed to stop UN officials coming to Israel in a bid to teach the UN a lesson.
Israel is furious that Guterres had suggested the attacks by Hamas could not be seen in a vacuum but followed decades of occupation. Guterres had also accused Israel of clear violations of humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, and insisted that a humanitarian ceasefire was vital, a position that the US was close to accepting even if it would not use the term ceasefire, but instead a “humanitarian pause”. There were also reports that Israel was under pressure from the US to delay a ground invasion. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said a massive ground invasion by Israel would be a mistake.
Without mentioning Israel by name, a furious-looking Guterres made a press statement in New York recalling that in his remarks on Tuesday he had specifically said no Palestinian grievance could justify the horrendous attacks by Hamas.
Rebutting the criticism and insisting it was necessary to re-establish the truth, he said “I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement … as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite.”
Guterres had told the UN security council on Tuesday: “It is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”
In his statement on Wednesday, Guterres pointed out that in his speech he had stated: “But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, responded by accusing the UN of continued bias and hatred of Israel. He added: “It is a disgrace to the UN that the secretary general does not retract his words and is not even able to apologise for what he said yesterday. He must resign. The secretary general once again distorts and twists reality. He clearly said yesterday that the massacre by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. Every person understands well that the meaning of the words is Israel has guilt for the actions of Hamas or at the very least it shows his understanding of the ‘background’ leading up to the massacre that Hamas perpetrated.”
Earlier, Erdan said on army radio: “Due to his remarks, we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives. We have already refused a visa for the undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.”
The response reflects a long-running Israeli belief that UN agencies, especially the UN human rights council, have an anti-Israeli agenda. But there was also strong support among Arab countries for Guterres’s approach. There are also signs that western countries, without directing him, want the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to re-evaluate his strategy, including by cooperating with the UN.
It is not clear how far Erdan’s proposed visa ban extends within the UN hierarchy. A large number of UN workers, for instance, are employed by UNRWA.
Griffiths, a former British diplomat and special envoy on Yemen, has been forthright in warning that levels of UN aid into Gaza are woefully inadequate. He has repeatedly called for a ceasefire to allow aid into the territory. There was no sign that Israeli pressure was having any impact on the UN’s willingness to issue warnings about the dire crisis inside Gaza. UNRWA, by far the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, warned that unless fuel is allowed into Gaza immediately, the agency will be forced to halt all operations tonight.
Last week the US vetoed a UN resolution tabled by Brazil calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid into Gaza since it did not explicitly allow for Israel’s self-defence.
Late on Wednesday Russia vetoed a US draft resolution at the UN security council upholding the right of Israel to “collective self-defence” and calling for “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid into Gaza.
Washington’s ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the council meeting in New York that she was “deeply disappointed” by the Russian veto. She called the American resolution “strong and balanced” and said it had been forged after extensive consultation with other council members.
“Though today’s vote was a setback, we must not be deterred … as we work to build a more peaceful and stable future for Palestinians and Israelis alike,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
The US resolution was amended from previous iterations by including a reference to “humanitarian pauses” to provide a space for desperately needed food and water to be trucked into Gaza. But it did not go far enough for Russia or China. Both voted against the draft, citing the lack of a ceasefire demand.
Ten of the 15 members of the UN security council voted in favour of the resolution, three against, and two abstained.
The UN security council has not reached a collective unanimous decision on Israel since January 2009, when resolution 1860 (2009) was adopted. The US has vetoed resolutions on Israel a total of 46 times, including last week.
Although it is clear that the US opposes a formal ceasefire, the distinction between a humanitarian pause and a humanitarian lull is less immediately apparent.
