‘History will judge us all,’ UN chief Antonio Guterres says as Israel steps up offensive in Gaza
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday night issued an appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza as Israel stepped up its offensive in the besieged enclave.
Guterres also called for the unconditional release of hostages that were brought into Gaza after Israel after Hamas attacked Israeli settlements on October 7. The UN chief also emphasised on the delivery of life-saving supplies at a bigger scale in Gaza.
“Everyone must assume their responsibilities. This is a moment of truth,” the UN chief wrote on a post on X, formerly Twitter. “History will judge us all.”
The remarks by Guterres came as Israeli Defence Forces stepped up their bombardment in the Gaza Strip. Tel Aviv also knocked out the internet and communications in the besieged enclave, cutting off nearly 2.3 million people from contacting each other as well as the outside world.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari admitted that Tel Aviv has intensified the attacks in Gaza “to achieve the objectives of the war”, raising expectations that the long-anticipated ground invasion could be starting.
The war between Israel and Palestine’s Hamas militant group entered its 22nd day on Saturday. Over 8,500 people have died on both sides.
The Hamas-led Health Ministry said at least 7,300 Palestinians have been killed in the retaliatory airstrikes carried out by Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza since October 7.
Multiple organisations, including the World Health Organization, said they have completely lost contact with their people in Gaza and all its teams operating on the ground in Gaza.
Guterres vs Israel
Last week, Israel demanded Guterres’ resignation from his position over his remarks against the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza.
The UN chief had said that the attacks by Hamas “did not happen in a vacuum” further adding that the attacks cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.
“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,” the UN chief said at the General Assembly.
To this Israeli envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan responded saying that Guterres was “unfit” to lead the United Nations.
“The UN Secretary-General, who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN. I call on him to resign immediately. There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words,” he stated on social media platform X.
Subsequently, Guterres said that he was shocked to see the misrepresentations of his statement as if he was justifying acts of terror by Hamas.