Israel’s Foreign Minister accuses Guterres of being “a danger to world peace”

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, said last night that the mandate of the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, represents “a danger to world peace”, after he activated article 99 of the Founding Charter to request a ceasefire in Gaza to the Security Council.

“Guterres’ mandate is a danger to world peace. “His request to activate Article 99 and the call for a ceasefire in Gaza constitutes support for the terrorist organization Hamas and support for the murder of the elderly, the kidnapping of babies and the rape of women,” Cohen said last night on the account. social

“Anyone who supports world peace must support the liberation of Gaza from Hamas,” he added.

It is the first time since he began his mandate in 2017 that Guterres invokes Article 99, which establishes that the Secretary-General “may draw the attention of the Council to any matter that in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of peace and security in the world.” ”.

He made his decision “given the magnitude of the loss of life”

The Portuguese politician made his decision “given the magnitude of the loss of human life in Israel in such a short period of time,” referring to the two months of war since Hamas attacked Israel by surprise on October 7, killing more of 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages.

Since then, more than 16,200 people have died and some 7,000 are under rubble in Gaza, completely besieged by Israeli forces and subjected to constant bombing.

The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdán, also accused Guterres yesterday of having reached “a new level of moral turpitude.”

“The secretary general’s ceasefire call is actually a call to maintain Hamas’ reign of terror in Gaza,” Erdan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Borrell backs Guterres

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, supported this Thursday the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, in his request that the UN Security Council act “immediately” and decree a new halt on fire to prevent “a total collapse of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”

“I ask EU members of the UN Security Council and like-minded partners to support the call of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,” Borrell said on his official account on X (formerly Twitter).

The head of European diplomacy stated that the United Nations Security Council “must act immediately to avoid a total collapse of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”

ICC prosecutor: preventing aid access to Gaza would be “a war crime”

For his part, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, considered this Thursday “imperative” to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip and warned that intentionally preventing assistance to civilians “may constitute a war crime” according to the regulations of this court.

In a message of support to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, who activated article 99 of the Founding Charter to ask the Security Council for a ceasefire in Gaza, Khan has “emphasized” that allowing the entry of humanitarian aid “ immediately and on a large scale” to the Strip is “imperative.”

“I wish to reiterate in the clearest possible terms that intentionally preventing the provision of aid to civilians may constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute of the ICC (the founding treaty of this international court),” the international prosecutor wrote in X ( formerly Twitter).

Arab countries “strongly” support Guterres

Several Arab countries, including the Arab League, have “strongly” supported the request of the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, for the UN Security Council to act to declare a ceasefire in Gaza and avoid a collapse of the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.

The Arab League, made up of 22 States, said today that Guterres’ request for the Security Council to act “immediately” is “a testimony to the seriousness of the humanitarian situation” in the besieged Gaza Strip, under constant Israeli bombardment.

“I strongly support the initiative (…) of Guterres for an immediate ceasefire due to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. His appeal to the Security Council under Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since he took office demonstrates the seriousness of the situation,” League Secretary General Ahmed Abulgheit said in his account on X. With EFE

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