Why did Israel ban UN chief Guterres, and what are his views on the Middle East crisis?
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, announced that the country has declared UN secretary-general António Guterres persona non grata and banned him from entering Israel.
Why has Israel banned the UN chief’s entry?
Israel has banned UN secretary-general António Guterres from entering the country because, according to foreign minister Israel Katz, Guterres failed to unequivocally condemn Iran’s missile attack on Israel and the Hamas attacks on October 7.
Katz said that anyone unable to denounce these actions does not deserve to enter Israel. He said the country will defend its citizens and uphold its dignity, with or without the UN chief’s support.
In a post on X, Katz said, “Today, I have declared UN secretary-general @antonioguterres persona non grata in Israel and banned him from entering the country. Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil.”
What has Guterres said about the Middle East crisis?
UN chief Guterres condemned the ongoing escalation in the Middle East after Iran’s rocket barrage on Israel, but without naming Iran or Israel. “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,” he said in an X post.
Guterres also expressed concern over the conflict in Lebanon, urging Israel to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “I am extremely concerned with the escalation of the conflict in Lebanon and appeal for an immediate ceasefire. An all-out war must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be respected.”
He has repeatedly expressed concerns about the situation in Gaza. “The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the United Nations. I’ve never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months,” he said in a recent interview with AFP.
Who is António Guterres?
• António Guterres became the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations on January 1, 2017.
• Born in Lisbon in 1949, he holds an engineering degree and speaks Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish. He is married and has two children and three grandchildren.
• Before becoming secretary-general, he served as the United Nations high commissioner for refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.
• Guterres was the prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. He served as the president of the European Council in the early 2000s.
• He has raised concerns about ensuring human dignity for vulnerable people worldwide, having seen suffering in refugee camps and war zones.