From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 9, 2023
Israeli FM accuses UN chief of siding with Hamas in call for Gaza ceasefire
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen posts a scathing rebuke of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, accusing him of standing with Palestinian terror group Hamas in his appeal before the UN Security Council earlier tonight for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Guterres, who for the first time invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter earlier this week, which enables a UN chief to raise threats he sees to international peace and security, warned of an “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and urged the council to demand a humanitarian ceasefire.
A subsequent vote was held to adopt an Arab-backed resolution to call for the ceasefire, and had wide support but was vetoed by the United States.
In his post, Cohen said Guterres’ call “disgraces his position and constitutes a mark of Cain on the UN.”
“The invocation of Article 99, after it was not used for the war in Ukraine or for the civil war in Syria, is another example of Guterres’ biased and one-sided stance,’ Cohen wrote.
Cohen says a “ceasefire at this time would prevent the collapse of the Hamas terrorist organization, which is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and would enable it to continue ruling the Gaza Strip.”
“With gratitude to our ally, the US, for its support to continue the fight to bring the hostages home and to eliminate the Hamas terrorist organization, which will bring a better future to the region,” he went on.
Guterres' appeal to stand on the side of Hamas and request a ceasefire disgraces his position and constitutes a mark of Cain on the UN.
The invocation of Article 99, after it was not used for the war in Ukraine or for the civil war in Syria, is another example of Guterres'…— אלי כהן | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) December 8, 2023
Earlier this week, following Guterres’ invocation of Article 99, Cohen said the UN chief’s tenure was a “danger to world peace.”
Cohen claims that Guterres’s decision “constitutes support of the Hamas terrorist organization and an endorsement of the murder of the elderly, the abduction of babies and the rape of women.
