Palestinians Should Not Be Punished Collectively Due to Hamas Attacks, According to the UN Chief
Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN, urged for an urgent truce on Wednesday and said that the Islamist organization Hamas’ assaults on Israel did not warrant the “collective punishment” of Palestinians.
The October 7 Hamas assaults on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 people, were denounced as “acts of terror” that could not be justified by Guterres while speaking at an economic event in China. However, Guterres said that “those attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.” He reiterated what he termed “two urgent humanitarian appeals” and urged for a “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In reference to the 199 hostages that the terrorists are believed to have taken during their deadly attack, which is the bloodiest in Israel’s history, Guterres urged Hamas to free its captives “immediately and unconditionally.” Additionally, Guterres urged Israel to “immediately allow unrestricted access of humanitarian aid to meet the most basic needs of the people of Gaza, the vast majority of whom are women and children.”
“I call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to provide sufficient time and space to help realise my two appeals and to ease the epic human suffering we are witnessing,” said Guterres. The future of the whole area and too many lives are at stake.
According to Guterres, he is “fully aware of the deep grievances of the Palestinian people after 56 years of occupation”. However, as important as these complaints are, he said, they cannot excuse the terror actions carried out by Hamas on October 7.
The head of the UN had declared himself “horrified” by the devastating explosion that tore through a hospital in Gaza late on Tuesday, leaving hundreds dead. The hospital attack has been attributed to Israel by Hamas. Israel said that an errant missile launched from Gaza by Islamic Jihad terrorists was to blame.
“My thoughts are with the victims’ families. In a post on X, Guterres said that hospitals and medical staff are protected by international humanitarian law. Additionally, six people were murdered in an assault on a UN-run school in a Gaza refugee camp, which Guterres denounced.
