Israel has barred the UN secretary-general from entering the country, declaring
him officially unwelcome, the foreign minister said on Wednesday.
“I have declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata in
Israel and banned him from entering the country,” said Israel Katz in a
statement.
Several UN officials were also banned from entering Israel in recent months,
including UN Special Rapporteur for Palestinians Francesca Albanese, accused
of siding with the Palestinians, and the UN humanitarian office chief in occupied
Palestinian Territory, who said in August that Israel did not extend his visa due
to a UN report accusing Israel of violating the rights of Palestinian children.
Israel has also attacked the credibility of the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees, or UNRWA.
Seeking to justify the move, the foreign minister said Guterres did not
“unequivocally condemn” Iran over its Tuesday missile attack on Israel and also
has not declared Palestinian resistance group Hamas a “terrorist organization.”
On Tuesday, Iran fired some 180 missiles at Israel, which said it was in
retaliation for the recent assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh,
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and an Iranian Revolutionary Guards
commander.
Israel vowed late Tuesday to respond to the attack at a time of its choosing,
calling it “a severe, dangerous escalation.”
Regional tensions have escalated due to Israel’s nearly year-long relentless
offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 41,600 people, most of them
women and children, following a Hamas attack last October.
The conflict also spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across
the country which have killed more than 1,000 people and injured nearly 3,000
others since Sept. 23.