Westafrican Press- Israel’s Foreign Minister announced on Wednesday that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would be barred from entering Israel due to his failure to “unequivocally” condemn Iran’s recent missile attack on the country.
The attack occurred on Tuesday when Iran launched over 180 ballistic missiles at Israel amid escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group backed by Iran. While many of the missiles were intercepted, a few breached Israel’s missile defenses. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
In response to the attacks, Guterres issued a brief statement on Tuesday, referring only to the “latest attacks in the Middle East” and condemning the overall escalation of conflict in the region. This statement came on the same day that Israeli troops were deployed into southern Lebanon, further intensifying the situation.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, criticized Guterres’ lack of direct condemnation of Iran’s involvement, declaring him persona non grata in Israel. Katz emphasized that the failure to explicitly condemn Iran, as many other countries had done, made Guterres unwelcome.
“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil,” Katz said. He added that Israel would continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity, with or without the support of Antonio Guterres.
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