Developments are storming in the Israel-Hamas war not only at the military level but also at the highest diplomatic level, with an unprecedented feud erupting between Israel and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over comments that Israeli officials say to "justify" the terrorist attack by Hamas.
The result is that the Israelis demand his immediate resignation.
As Israeli International Media points out in its related article, "UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is trying to retract his comments that seemed to justify Hamas' deadly attack on Israel," stating:
"The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the horrific attacks by Hamas," Guterres tweeted, adding: "These horrific attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people."
Israeli officials spoke out for Guterres after he told the UN Security Council: "It is important that we also recognize that Hamas' attacks did not happen in a vacuum," with many calling for him to step down.
As a result of the above, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said his country would deny visas to UN officials after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' comments appeared to justify Hamas's brutal attack on Israel.
"Because of his remarks we will refuse to grant visas to UN representatives," Erdan tells Military Radio.
"We have already refused a visa for Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths," Erdan said. "It's time to teach them a lesson."
"It is important to also recognize that Hamas' attacks did not take place in a vacuum," Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war, which erupted when the terror group devastated Israeli border communities, killing an estimated 1,400 people. the vast majority of whom are civilians.
On an operational level, rockets were recently fired from Gaza into towns and communities in southern Israel.
Warning sirens sound in Ashkelon and the communities of Zikim and Karmiya.
There are no immediate reports of direct collisions or injuries.
For its part, the terrorist organization Hamas claims that around 80 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight in the Gaza Strip.
A Hamas statement said "more than 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded in massacres carried out by occupation raids" overnight.
The tally cannot be verified and Hamas does not distinguish between terrorists and civilians.
The IDF says it has been hitting Hamas targets across the Strip since the October 7 attack on Israel that killed around 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
The unprecedented rivalry that has erupted between Israel and the UN Secretary General, as well as the denial of visas to UN officials, is a very bad development, foreshadowing unpleasant developments.
Israel seems to not want any UN intervention in the future when it carries out its ground attack on the Gaza Strip, a sign that it will be particularly severe, causing multiple collateral civilian casualties.
Such a thing will greatly sharpen the anti-Israeli-anti-American climate in the Arab-Muslim countries, with a very likely result, the generalization of the war with the participation in the first year of Hezbollah-Iran instead of Hamas and the USA instead of Israel.
