United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres failed to properly respond to the Hamas-led October 7 invasion of Israel because its victims were Jewish, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Monday.
“Your reluctance to lead a decisive international stance against” the atrocities committed by Hamas and its affiliated terror groups and the fixation of criticism on Israel … signals a distressing bias,” Katz wrote in a letter he sent to Guterres.
“If the victims would not have been of Jewish or Israeli descent, your office would have responded in a much ‘more’ vigorous way,” Katz said.
In his letter, Katz called on the United Nations to declare Hamas a terror organization in advance of Monday afternoon’s Security Council’s debate on the October 7 attack.
“The necessity to declare Hamas as a terrorist organization and to impose severe sanctions similar to those placed on Al Qaeda and Daesh is critical and indisputable,” Katz wrote.
He also urged Guterres to do more to ensure the “immediate and unconditional release” of all the remaining 134 hostages in Gaza.
The purpose of the UNSC debate
The UNSC debate, held at the request of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, is slate to focus on the report authored by Pramila Patten, the UN special representative of the secretary-general on Sexual Violence in Conflict. It found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Hamas and affiliated terror groups had committed acts of sexual violence against its victims during its invasion of Israel on October 7.
Monday’s debate will mark the first time the UNSC has debated sexual violence related to October 7.Katz in a letter to Guterres, however, focused largely on the growing animosity between Israel and the Secretary-General, due to the latter’s response to the October 7 attack.
“Your response to the atrocities committed by Hamas is unacceptable. Your dismissal of the heinous acts as documented in the recent UN report,” acts which are also being perpetrated against the hostages, “is not only inadequate but also offensive,” Katz wrote.
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