From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Marking a year since Oct. 7 massacre, UN chief says attack ‘scarred souls’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issues a video statement marking a year since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught in southern Israel, saying the “horrific” attack “scarred souls.”
My message to mark one year since the October 7 attacks. pic.twitter.com/0NPlHyAT6s
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 5, 2024
Guterres — who has been under repeated attack from Israeli officials over previous failures to adequately condemn the Hamas massacres, the widely documented sexual violence that day, and subsequent attacks on Israel, leading Jerusalem to declare him a persona non grata several days ago — makes mention of the sexual violence in his new statement, and emphasizes his condemnation of the atrocities and of the taking of hostages, including the Palestinian terror group’s refusal to allow Red Cross visits.
He memorializes “all those who were brutally killed and suffered unspeakable violence, including sexual violence, as they were simply living their lives.”
Guterres once again demands the unconditional release of all hostages.
He also mentions the ensuing war and the “profound human suffering” it has inflicted on “Palestinians in Gaza, and now the people of Lebanon,” and calls for an end to the war and a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Times of Israel Community.