As Israel intensifies its onslaught in Gaza, UN leader Antonio Guterres declares, “History will judge us all”

As Israel intensified its onslaught in the beleaguered enclave, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday night made a plea for a humanitarian truce in Gaza.

In addition, Guterres demanded the unconditional return of prisoners taken into Gaza by Israel after Hamas’ October 7 assault on Israeli settlements. The UN chief also emphasized the need for larger-scale supply of life-saving goods to be sent to Gaza.

We all need to take ownership of our obligations. The UN head said, “This is a moment of truth,” in a post on X, the old Twitter platform. “History shall judge each of us.”

As the Israeli Defense Forces increased their bombing of the Gaza Strip, Guterres made these statements. Additionally, Tel Aviv shut off the besieged enclave’s communications and internet, preventing roughly 2.3 million residents from communicating with one another or the outside world.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the top military spokesman for Israel, acknowledged that Tel Aviv had escalated its assaults in Gaza “to achieve the objectives of the war,” heightening hopes that the eagerly awaited ground invasion may be about to begin.

Saturday marked the start of the 22nd day of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist Hamas organization in Palestine. On both sides, there have been almost 8,500 deaths.

At least 7,300 Palestinians have died as a result of Israeli Defense Forces retaliation bombings in Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.

Numerous organizations, like as the World Health Organization, have reported that they have lost all communication with their staff members in Gaza as well as with all of their teams who are currently working there.

Israel against Guterres

Israel requested that Guterres resign from his post last week due to his comments criticizing the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza.

The head of the UN had said that the Hamas assaults “did not happen in a vacuum” and that they could not be used as an excuse for the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.

It’s crucial to acknowledge that the Hamas assaults weren’t isolated incidents. For fifty-six years, the Palestinian people have been under oppressive occupation. Their economy has been stunted, their people have been uprooted, their houses have been destroyed, and their land has been slowly engulfed by settlements and violent incidents. The UN chief said to the General Assembly that “their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”

Gilad Erdan replied to this Israeli representative to the UN by calling Guterres “unfit” to be the head of the organization.

“The Secretary-General of the United Nations is unfit to head the organization given his empathy for the campaign of mass murder of women, children, and the elderly. I demand that he step down right now. Speaking with those who express sympathy for the most heinous crimes done against Israeli residents and the Jewish people is meaningless and unjustified. Simply said, there are no words,” he said on the social networking site X.

Guterres went on to say that he was horrified to see how his remarks had been misrepresented, giving the impression that he was endorsing Hamas’ terrorist activities.