Joseph Borrell (archive – Agence France-Presse)
After the violent Israeli attack against him and calls for his dismissal, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell, rallied to defend the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
Borrell confirmed that Guterres’ words regarding the attack launched by Hamas on October 7 were distorted.
“I condemn Hamas”
He also highlighted in tweets on his Twitter account today, Thursday, that the UN Secretary-General “unequivocally condemned the horrific and unprecedented terrorist acts committed by Hamas.”
He considered that “he was also very clear underlining that the lives of all civilians have the same value and that international humanitarian law applies to everyone, before and after 7 October”.
Furthermore, he confirmed his position of support for the UN official. “We fully support the work of Guterres and the work of the UN peace and humanitarian teams,” she wrote.
Excuses and visa ban
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, launched a violent campaign of criticism against Guterres, demanding that he also resign and apologize.
He also revealed that his country “will refuse to grant visas to representatives of the United Nations.” “We have already refused to give one to Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths,” he told Israel’s Army Radio station on Wednesday.
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Yesterday the Secretary General of the United Nations expressed his “shock” at what he called a “distortion” of statements made last Tuesday during a session of the Security Council.
He also stressed that “it is necessary to put things in perspective, especially out of respect for the victims and their families.”
Interestingly, Guterres, during his speech before the Security Council two days ago, denounced “violations of international law” in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.
But what particularly angered Israel was its statement that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to suffocating occupation for 56 years,” underlining the importance of recognizing that “the Hamas attacks did not come out of nowhere.” .