U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres walks to the podium to address the general debate of the General Assembly’s 79th session in New York City on Sept. 24, 2024. Credit: U.N. Photo.
While the United Nations has called for the return of the hostages in the past, its secretary-general, António Guterres, finally condemned Hamas for not allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the hostages in Gaza.
It represents the first time that he’s publicly condemned the terrorist organization for not allowing the Red Cross to see the hostages. It has been almost a year since Oct. 7.
“I’d like to condemn the fact that the Red Cross is not even allowed to visit those hostages,” he said. “This is something clear in international humanitarian law.”
Guterres also reiterated his call for the immediate release of the remaining 101 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
He somewhat condemned the rocket barrage attack against Israel on Tuesday, in which as many as 200 rockets were fired at the Jewish state, forcing Israelis throughout the country to shelter. However, he didn’t call out Iran by name or even specifically mention the rocket attacks.
In a post on X, Guterres wrote: “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”
In response, Naftali Bennett, the former prime minister of Israel, posted on X: “You’ve gotta be kidding. You condemn ‘the broadening’?! You just aren’t able to blurt the simple words, ‘I condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran who just shot roughly 180 deadly ballistic missiles towards the citizens of Israel.’ Quit.”
Source: JNS
