Why Israel is locked in a big spat with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres

It’s Day 20 of the Israel-Hamas war. The death toll has crossed over 7,000. And the crisis continues to unfold in the Gaza Strip, with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – the main UN agency working there – saying they would have to cease all aid operations there owing to the shortage of fuel.

As this humanitarian catastrophe unfolds, Israel is locked in a new spat with the United Nations – with Jerusalem demanding that Secretary General Antonio Guterres resign and denying visas to UN representatives.

Here’s a closer look at what has led to this furious diplomatic spat in which Israel has said “it’s time to teach them a lesson”.

The comment that started it all

On Tuesday (24 October), at a Security Council meeting, officials were discussing the humanitarian losses in Gaza when Secretary General António Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire to end the “epic suffering” in the Gaza Strip.

Guterres said the bombardment and blockade of Gaza amounted to the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” and violated international law. “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 said.

In his address, he condemned the Hamas attack in Israel on 7 October that started the war and demanded that all hostages taken that day be released.

But he added that the attack on Israel had not happened “in a vacuum” and noted that Palestinians had suffered more than five decades of occupation and oppression by Israel.

“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation,” he said. “They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”

Guterres told the Council: “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.”

Guterres also said he was deeply concerned about “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza”.

He expressed concern at Israel’s continuous bombardment of Gaza, as well as the level of civilian casualties and “wholesale destruction of neighbourhoods”.

Without naming Hamas, he stressed that “protecting civilians can never mean using them as human shields”.

And without naming Israel, he said: “Protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than one million people to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water, no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south itself.”

Israel erupts in anger

However, his comments weren’t received well by Israel, who erupted in anger.

Israel’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called on Guterres to resign immediately, accusing him of being detached from reality. “His comments… constitute a justification for terrorism and murder. It’s sad that a person with such views is the head of an organisation that arose after the Holocaust.”

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, slammed the UN secretary-general, accusing him of living in an unreal world.

He asked the UN chief, “In what world do you live?”

“These kids witnessed horror that cannot be described… Mr. Secretary General: In what world do you live? Definitely this is not our world,”

Israeli FM @elicoh1 at the UN Security Council pic.twitter.com/oUKUTp7wdO

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 25, 2023

Cohen added that the killing of the 1,400 people, including women and children, by Hamas constituted a massacre that would “go down in history as more brutal” than those committed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

He further declared “Hamas as the new Nazis” and said: “Just as the civilised world united to defeat the Nazis, just as the civilised world united to defeat (IS), the civilised world has to stand united behind Israel to defeat Hamas.”

Responding to the UN’s call for a ceasefire, he stated, “Tell me, what is a proportionate response for killing of babies, for rape [of] women and burn them, for beheading a child? How can you agree to a ceasefire with someone who swore to kill and destroy your own existence?”

The Israeli minister later on X added that he would not meet the UN secretary general again and that there was no place for a balanced approach in this issue.

Erdan on Wednesday told Israel Radio that it was time to teach the UN a lesson and that they would deny visas to all UN representatives. “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 spat between the UN and Israel is a reflection of a long-held belief by many in the war-riven country that the international body has an anti-Israel stance.

Countries speak up

Israel’s condemnation of the UN secretary general and the consequent spat drew in other countries as well. The British government sided with Israel, with Home Office minister Robert Jenrick asking that Guterres retract his comments if they were intended to partly blame Israel for the escalating crisis.

In an interview to Sky News, he said, “If he is referring to what has happened over the course of the last two weeks we don’t believe that Israel has broken international law. There is a clear right in international law for a nation to defend itself and that is what Israel is doing.”

He told LBC Radio later that Guterres’ comments were wrong. “His comments implied that there was a justification for what happened in Israel two weeks ago. “There isn’t, there can’t be, this is a murderous, barbaric terrorist attack on innocent civilians in a democratic country. No-one should even attempt to justify that.”

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On the other hand, Guterres received support from Portugal and Germany. Portugal’s foreign minister João Gomes Cravinho told Portuguese newswire Lusa, “We fully understand and follow the position of António Guterres, who was unequivocal when he condemned Hamas terrorism. “There is no way to say that António Guterres is in any way excusing terrorism.”

The Portuguese foreign minister also dismissed Israel’s calls for Guterres — who is Portuguese — to resign.

Germany, too, expressed support for the UN chief, with a spokesperson for the government in Berlin saying on Wednesday it had confidence in Guterres.

UN’s Guterres expresses hurt

The UN secretary general on Wednesday expressed his sadness at his comments “being misrepresented”.

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.”

“I believe it was necessary to set the record straight, especially out of respect to the victims and to their families,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Israel-Hamas war has also led to tensions within the UN, with the Security Council failing to pass a resolution on it.

Russia and China have vetoed US’ resolution that condemned the 7 October attacks, calling for the release of hostages and for humanitarian aid for Gaza. The resolution would have also supported Israel’s right to defend itself.

A second, failed resolution proposed by Russia, introduced at the last minute, also failed when it didn’t get the nine votes needed.

With inputs from agencies