UN Secretary General António Guterres has again come under sharp attack for his criticism of the Israeli army’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen denied that the Portuguese were eligible for office. “Guterres does not deserve to head the United Nations,” Cohen said at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
The 74-year-old did not take a decisive enough stand against the terror of the radical Islamic Hamas, the Israeli Foreign Minister concluded. “He has not yet promoted any peace process in the Middle East.”
Guterres said on Tuesday he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The UN Secretary General announced in New York that there had been dramatic losses of life. “In the name of humanity, the Secretary-General calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” his office said.
Three weeks ago, statements by the UN Secretary General about the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas led to angry reactions from Cohen and the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan. He even called for Guterres’ resignation.
Criticism of “collective punishment of Palestinians”
Guterres reiterated this weekend in an interview with the American broadcaster CNN that the barbaric attacks by the Islamist Hamas did not justify collective punishment by Israel. “You cannot use the terrible things that Hamas has done as a reason for collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” the 74-year-old said in the conversation broadcast on Sunday.
Guterres spokesman Stéphane Dujarric responded calmly on Tuesday to Cohen’s renewed attack. When asked, he said the UN Secretary-General continued his work “with nerves of steel, calm and determination” and on the basis of the UN Charter, international humanitarian law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Heavy fighting near hospitals
Heavy fighting takes place between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian extremists near hospitals in the Gaza Strip. In addition, Palestinians say attacks on clinic infrastructure and a lack of fuel have claimed the lives of a number of patients, including newborns. Israel denies attacking health care facilities.
The US government on Tuesday endorsed Israel’s claim that the Islamist group Hamas had set up a command center on the grounds of Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Hamas and the Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad operated a “command and control node from Al-Shifa in Gaza city,” US National Security Council communications director John Kirby told reporters.
Source: Krone
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