he EU foreign policy chief on Thursday defended UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ remarks on the Israel-Palestine conflict from criticism in some quarters, saying his words had been “distorted.”
Guterres condemned ”unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel,” Josep Borrell said on X. ”He was also clear that all civilian lives are worth the same and that IHL (international humanitarian law) applies to all, before and after 7/10.”
Borrell underlined that the EU ”fully” supports the work of Guterres and UN staff in favor of peace and for human relief in the Middle East and all over the world. On Wednesday Guterres called for a cease-fire in the conflict, adding that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel did not happen in a vacuum.
Saying that he “condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel,” Guterres also pointed to Palestinians undergoing “56 years of suffocating occupation,” while adding that these “cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.”
In response, Israel’s foreign minister said Guterres does not live in “our world,” and Israel’s ambassador to the UN called on the UN chief to resign. Guterres, saying he was ”shocked by the misinterpretations” of his remarks, reiterated his appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to ”ease suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer and facilitate the release of hostages.” Läs artikel