C T Online Desk: The Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called on the UN Secretary-General to “resign immediately” as he says that the ‘Hamas attack did not happen in a vacuum’ during a UN Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war.
Gilad Erdan came up with the call in a tweet around 11.22am on Tuesday, and at the stakeout outside the Security Council.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also tweeted that he would not be meeting with the UN chief for a scheduled bilateral.
Ambassador Erdan told reporters at the stakeout that in noting the Hamas attacks “did not happen in a vacuum” in his address to the Council, the UN chief was “justifying terrorism”.
In response to questions concerning the Foreign Minister’s tweet, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the Secretary-General would be meeting family representatives of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, adding they would be accompanied by a representative of the Israeli Permanent Mission to the UN.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, convened a meeting with the United Nations Security Council at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
The purpose of the meeting was to hold a scheduled quarterly open debate on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
This discussion gained added urgency due to the Hamas attacks on October 7th and the escalating humanitarian crisis resulting from the continued Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
The UN chief said the situation “is growing more dire by the hour”, repeating his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. 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. 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,” he said.
