Israel's UN envoy says Guterres lost moral compass over Gaza

Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, has lashed out at UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, saying he had “lost his moral compass” following his criticism of Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

“You have lost your moral compass, and you cannot remain Secretary-General, not for another minute,” Erdan posted on X.

“It has been over 30 days since the children of southern Israel were intentionally slaughtered by Hamas terrorists, but you have said NOTHING about the ‘graveyard of children’ the south of Israel has become,” Erdan claimed, reiterating false claims that the Palestinian resistance had killed babies during its surprise infiltration of Israel on 7 October.

.@antonioguterres: it has been over 30 days since the children of southern Israel were intentionally slaughtered by Hamas terrorists but you have said NOTHING about the “graveyard of children” the south of Israel has become.

You have lost your moral compass and cannot remain… pic.twitter.com/i2t803AuoQ

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) November 6, 2023

Earlier on Monday, Guterres announced that the United Nations and its partners had launched a humanitarian appeal worth $1.2 billion for the 2.7 million Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

In his appeal, Guterres said, “Gaza has become a graveyard for children, with hundreds of girls and boys killed or injured every day”, and expressed deep concern about the clear violations of international law in Gaza.

This is not the first time that Guterres has been subjected to Israeli attack and criticism due to his position on the Gaza war.

On 24 October, Israel called on Guterres to immediately resign, while its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen refused to meet him, after statements in which he said the Palestinian resistance’s attack “did not happen in a vacuum”.

For over a month, Israel has been indiscriminately bombing the Gaza Strip, including residential buildings, hospitals, churches, mosques, UN schools, universities and even ambulances carrying wounded civilians, killing at least 10,000 Palestinians, the majority of them children.

READ: Israel announces killing of senior army officer in northern Gaza