Israel says it has refused a visa to UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths as a result of comments at the UN by secretary-general António Guterres.
Israeli media reports that Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said on army radio:
Due to his remarks we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives. We have already refused a visa for under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.
Israel has called on UN secretary general Guterres to resign after he said that the“appalling attacks” by Hamas against Israel on 7 October cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”, and spoke of “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.”
Guterres had said “Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets. All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions.”
Addressing the UN, the secretary-general then went on to say the attack on Israel did not happen “in a vacuum” and followed “56 years of suffocating occupation” for the Palestinian people by Israel, adding “They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said Guterres should resign, calling the speech “shocking”, saying that “he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner”.
Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has condemned what he termed “the collective punishment policy” inflicted by Israel on Gaza, while saying that the only way to reach a peaceful solution in Gaza is to keep communication channels open.
Reuters reports al-Thani, who is Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, was speaking in Doha in a press conference with the Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan. Al-Thani said Qatar will continue coordinating with Turkey and regional partners to de-escalate the crisis.
Fidan said that an Israeli ground operation into Gaza would turn the fighting there into a massacre. He said that those supporting Israel’s actions under the pretence of solidarity are “accomplices to its crimes”.
Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi this morning welcomed Qatar’s intervention on humanitarian issues, saying on social media “I’m pleased to say that Qatar is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions.”
It has just gone noon in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines …
Israel says it has refused a visa to UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths as a result of comments at the UN by secretary-general António Guterres. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said on army radio “Due to his remarks we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives. We have already refused a visa for under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.”
Israel called on UN secretary general Guterres to resign after he said that the“appalling attacks” by Hamas against Israel on 7 October cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”, and spoke of “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza”.
Guterres had said “Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets. All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions.”
Addressing the UN, the secretary-general then went on to say the attack on Israel did not happen “in a vacuum” and followed “56 years of suffocating occupation” for the Palestinian people by Israel, adding “They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”
Erdan said Guterres should resign, calling the speech “shocking”, saying that “he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner”.
The UN’s agency for the relief of Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) last night warned it would be forced to halt its operations in Gaza due to a lack of fuel as of Wednesday night. UNRWA also said that its shelters are now four times over-capacity, with more than 600,000 internally displaced people sheltering in 150 facilities. It said “many people are sleeping in the streets as current facilities are overwhelmed”. In response, Israel’s military posted a picture of what it said were fuel tanks inside Gaza. “They contain more than 500,000 litres of fuel,” it wrote. “Ask Hamas if you can have some.”
Israel’s ambassador to Australia has insisted the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “fair” after Australian foreign minister Penny Wong’s warning that the besieged strip had “nowhere near enough” access to aid supplies.
The rate of death and injuries of children in Gaza is “simply staggering,” Unicef’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa has said. The UN’s children’s organisation said that a reported 2,360 children had been killed in Gaza adue to “unrelenting attacks”. Adele Khodr said the number of child casualties were a “growing stain on our collective conscience”.
Eight aid trucks were allowed into Gaza late Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said as US President Joe Biden said efforts to deliver help via a crossing from Egypt were “not fast enough”. The UN had earlier said about 20 trucks had been unable to cross into Gaza from Egypt via the Rafah crossing.
Eight Syrian military personnel have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Deraa, Syrian state media has reported. The strikes targeted the Daraa countryside overnight, and came from the direction of the Golan Heights.
Three people were killed in the West Bank, medics have said, after the Israeli military launched a drone attack on what it said was a group of armed Palestinians who “fired and hurled explosive devices”.
The Israeli military has accused Iran of having ordered recent attacks by Tehran-backed militias in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. It also claimed Iran was providing Hamas in Gaza with intelligence, and helping stoke anti-Israel sentiment globally with an online messaging campaign.
Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the 2023-24 national budget was “no longer relevant” given the war against Hamas and would be amended. He put the direct cost of the war at $246m a day (£202m/€232m).
French president Emmanuel Macron will meet today with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo. Czech prime minister Petr Fiala and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer are set to arrive in Israel. Commentators have speculated that the stream of international leaders arriving in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem may also be partly aimed at delaying the expected ground invasion of Gaza.
Pope Francis has renewed his calls for the release of hostages held by Hamas and for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has written to prime ministers and presidents across the EU ahead of a summit tomorrow afternoon to express “grave concern” at the growing crisis in Gaza.
UK immigration minister Robert Jenrick has suggested that visitors to the country will be removed from the UK if they incite antisemitism, even if their conduct falls “below the criminal standard”.
A Palestinian American woman whose 6-year-old son was killed in a Chicago suburb in what police called a hate crime has asked the public to “pray for peace” as she recovers from her injuries.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will meet the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in Cairo today, Reuters reports.
The Israeli military has accused Iran of having ordered recent attacks by Tehran-backed militias in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.
Reuters reports the IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, also claimed Iran was currently providing Hamas in Gaza with intelligence, and was helping stoke anti-Israel sentiment globally with an online messaging campaign.
The UK immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, has suggested that visitors to the country will be removed from the UK if they incite antisemitism, even if their conduct falls “below the criminal standard”.
Jenrick said he could not get into “specific cases” of visa-holders whose conduct is being reviewed, saying there was a “legal process that must be followed properly”, but noted some people had been seen “glorifying” terror activities and “praising Hamas”.
It comes after he told the UK’s parliament on Tuesday that the process of revoking visas and expelling foreign nationals who spread “hate and division” had already begun “in a small number of cases”.
Pope Francis has renewed his calls for the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip.
“I am always thinking about the grave situation in Palestine and Israel. I encourage the release of hostages and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Reuters reports he said during his weekly audience.
Francis said that on Friday he will lead special prayers for peace in St Peter’s Basilica in a “a day of fasting, prayers, penance”.
The UN agency for refugees in Palestine (UNRWA) has said that its shelters are now four times over-capacity, with more than 600,000 internally displaced people sheltering in 150 facilities.
On social media it wrote that at least 40 UNRWA installations have been affected by airstrikes. It said “many people are sleeping in the streets as current facilities are overwhelmed”.
The UK government has said it does not agree with the assessment of the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, that there have been “clear violations of international humanitarian law” by Israel in Gaza, where more than 5,700 civilians are reported dead since 7 October.
Minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News:
We don’t agree with that. If he is referring to what has happened over the course of the last two weeks, we don’t believe Israel has broken international law. There is a clear right in international law for a nation to defend itself, and that is what Israel is doing.
We do want to see Israel, wherever practical – and it is immensely difficult to do – to surgically degrade and eradicate Hamas. That is what they are trying to do and we obviously hope they succeed because the world will be a better place … it will be a blessing if we can rid the world of Hamas.
The Israeli military has ordered the civilian population to evacuate south below the Wadi Gaza, and Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip. It has continued to bombard the southern area of Gaza where it has told civilians to relocate to.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has written to prime ministers and presidents across the EU ahead of a summit tomorrow afternoon to express “grave concern” of the growing crisis in Gaza. He said:
The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be of grave concern. We need to discuss, firstly, how to urgently ensure the effective delivery of humanitarian aid, and access to the most basic needs. Secondly, we must engage, in a united and coherent front, with partners to avoid a dangerous regional escalation of the conflict. Furthermore, relaunching the peace process based on the two-state solution is the only way forward. Lastly, we should address the effects of this conflict in the EU – this includes looking at its implications for the cohesion of our societies, our security, and migratory movements.
The UK government minister Robert Jenrick said he was “not going to comment directly” on remarks made by the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, but said no comparison should be made between Israel and Hamas.
PA Media reports that asked on Sky News about Guterres saying it is important to recognise “the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum”, Jenrick said:
I don’t think you should be comparing Israel to Hamas and neither should you be suggesting in any way that innocent Israeli civilians are to blame or have any culpability for what happened.
The events of two weeks ago were exclusively the responsibility of Hamas, one of the most evil and murderous, barbaric organisations in the world.
So whether it is the secretary-general or anyone else, the blame for the tragedy we are currently seeing in Palestine and Gaza and Israel lies squarely with Hamas.
They are the enemy of the Gazan population because they are using people in Gaza as human shields and they are subjecting civilians in Gaza, as in Israel, to the most appalling and tragic consequences of their actions.
Israel has called for Guterres to resign over the comments, in which he said he was concerned about “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza”.
The Hamas-run health ministry in the territory claims that Israel has killed more than 5,700 Palestinians, including more than 2,000 children, in an aerial bombardment launched after Hamas made its surprise attack inside Israel on 7 October.
Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said 2023-24 national budget was “no longer relevant” given the war against Hamas and would be amended. Reuters reports he put the direct cost of the war at $246m a day (£202m/€232m).
AP has a little more detail on Israeli strikes on Syria which Syrian state media has said have killed eight Syrian soldiers and wounded seven others.
Citing the Sana state-run news agency, AP reports the strikes targeted the Daraa countryside overnight, and came from the direction of the Golan Heights.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas started on 7 October, Israel has carried out several reported strikes in Syria including two on the Damascus airport and three on Aleppo’s airport.
Israel has targeted airports and seaports in the government-held parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Earlier the Israeli military said its fighter jets struck “military infrastructure and mortar launchers” of the Syrian army “in response to rocket launches from Syria toward Israel yesterday”.
Israel says it has refused a visa to UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths as a result of comments at the UN by secretary-general António Guterres.
Israeli media reports that Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said on army radio:
Due to his remarks we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives. We have already refused a visa for under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.
Israel has called on UN secretary general Guterres to resign after he said that the“appalling attacks” by Hamas against Israel on 7 October cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”, and spoke of “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.”
Guterres had said “Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets. All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions.”
Addressing the UN, the secretary-general then went on to say the attack on Israel did not happen “in a vacuum” and followed “56 years of suffocating occupation” for the Palestinian people by Israel, adding “They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said Guterres should resign, calling the speech “shocking”, saying that “he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner”.
Reuters reports that the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah met with leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, according to a report on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV.
The meeting grouped Hezbollah’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, with Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri, and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala, al-Manar reported.
Our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour recommends reading António Guterres’ speech at the UN in full. Israel has called on Guterres to resign after the address in New York.
In particular, my colleague highlights that Gutterres said “the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas”, “I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel”, and “Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets.”
Daniel Hurst is Guardian Australia’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent:
Israel’s ambassador to Australia has insisted the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “fair” after Penny Wong’s warning that the besieged strip had “nowhere near enough” access to aid supplies.
The Australian foreign minister called on Wednesday for “humanitarian pauses on hostilities, so food, water, medicine and other essential assistance can reach people in desperate need, and so civilians can get to safety”.
The Israeli ambassador, Amir Maimon, pointed to the recent entry of aid trucks from Egypt to the Gaza Strip when asked about Wong’s comments.
“With all due respect, the minister for foreign affairs represents Australia and I represent Israel,” he said. “According to our information and my knowledge, the humanitarian situation is fair.”
Maimon said there was “no moral equivalence” between Israel and Hamas: “We are the victims, we are not the aggressors.”
Maimon made the comments after the UN secretary general, António Guterres, called for an immediate ceasefire to ease the “epic suffering” in Gaza, after more than 700 people were reportedly killed in a single day and hospitals began to shut down for lack of fuel.
Read more of Daniel Hurst’s report here: Israel ambassador claims his country is the victim as Penny Wong warns of ‘desperate need’ in Gaza
Eight Syrian military personnel have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Deraa, Syrian state media has reported, according to Reuters.
The Israeli military had earlier said it had launched airstrikes on “military infrastructure and mortar launchers belonging to the Syrian Army” in response to rocket launches from Syria on Tuesday.
Czech prime minister Petr Fiala and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer are set to arrive in Israel on Wednesday to show support for Israel, following in the footsteps of leaders from France, Germany, the US and the UK, among others.
Commentators have speculated that the stream of international leaders may also be aimed at delaying the expected ground invasion of Gaza.
The leaders will hold talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, spokespeople for both governments said, according to Reuters.
Nehammer will also meet with the family of an Austrian-Israeli national who is currently being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Austrian government said in a statement.
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2023-10-25 08:30:00Z
CBMifWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS93b3JsZC9saXZlLzIwMjMvb2N0LzI1L2lzcmFlbC1oYW1hcy13YXItbGl2ZS1uZXdzLWdhemEtY2hpbGQtZGVhdGhzLXVuaWNlZi1qZW5pbi13ZXN0LWJhbmstc3RyaWtl0gEA
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