Visiting the edge of the Gaza Strip on Saturday March 23, UN Secretary General António Guterres once again called for a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas.
“I echo the vast majority of the world who have seen enough. Who has had enough,” he told reporters from the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. “In Gaza, Palestinians are stuck in a never-ending nightmare,” he added, deploring the “destroyed homes, missing families and entire generations as well as the hunger and famine that hang over the population.”
“The UN has become an anti-Semitic organization”
This statement provoked the ire of Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. “Under his leadership, the UN has become an anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli organization that harbors and encourages terrorism,” the latter wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter).
“UN Secretary-General António Guterres today came to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing and blamed Israel for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, without in any way condemning Hamas terrorists who are looting aid humanitarian,” accused this official.
This is a new episode in the recurring tensions between Israel and the United Nations. António Guterres, for his part, indicated earlier that he had come to draw attention to the “pain” of the inhabitants of Gaza, after five and a half months of a war which had plunged their territory into a catastrophic humanitarian situation and on the verge of collapse. famine.
“Nothing justifies the horrible attacks by Hamas on October 7,” he said. And nothing justifies the collective punishment suffered by the Palestinian people. Now more than ever, it is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. »
This article is originally published on jeuneafrique.com
