Israel calls on UN chief to quit as tempers flare in Security Council

Top Israeli officials assailed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday for saying the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas "did not occur in vacuum" and called on him to resign.

Ambassador Gilad Erdan was responding to Guterres's speech at the opening of a Security Council meeting to discuss the Israel-Hamas war in which the world body's leader said no Palestinian grievances can justify the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

In his speech alleging violations of international humanitarian law, Gutteres said: "It is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation."

"But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he said.

Guterres's remarks provoked Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to cancel a meeting with him. Cohen gave a speech before the council in which he held up photographs of Israeli children held hostage, who he called innocent "victims of evil." He also played an audio recording he said was a Hamas terrorist boasting of killing Israelis, and identified people who were guests in the council chamber as relatives of Israelis killed or taken hostage by Hamas.

Erdan later took to social media to demand Guterres step down for what he called a shocking speech that "proved conclusively, beyond any doubt, that the Secretary-General is completely disconnected from the reality in our region."

Opening the security council session on Tuesday, Guterres said there was no excuse for the "appalling" violence by Hamas militants on October 7 but also warned against "collective punishment" of the Palestinians.

"I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza. Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law," Guterres told a Security Council session, without explicitly naming Israel.

Guterres said that the Palestinians had been "subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation," telling the Security Council: "It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum."

The exchange highlighted the tensions that have followed in the wake of the Hamas attacks and Israel's airstrikes in response, which Palestinian authorities say have killed more than 5,000 people. It also reflected the challenge for Guterres, who as head of the 193-member United Nations must represent both Israel and its allies, as well as adversaries such as Iran — not to mention countries such as Egypt and Jordan that recognize Israel but have criticized its policies.