‘Hamas Attacks Didn’t Happen In Vacuum’: UN Chief On Gaza Crisis, Israeli FM Says ‘What World D

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Tuesday lashed out at United Nations chief Antonio Guterres over his criticism of Tel Aviv’s counter-offensive in Gaza, reported AFP

Addressing a special Security Council session on the crisis, Cohen told Guterres, “Mr. Secretary General, In what world do you live?”

His remarks came after the UN chief said that “those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” reported AP.

“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. 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,” the UN chief said at the session, according to AP.

The UN chief added, “The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.

In response to his speech, Eli Cohen said that he won’t be meeting the UN Secretary-General.

“I will not meet with the UN Secretary-General. After October 7th there is no room for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased from the world!” Cohen posted on X.

During his address at the UN General Assembly, Eli Cohen recited a poem written by a Holocaust survivor in 1948. “Five years later, United Nations voted in favour of creation of a Jewish state. The belt of the state of Israel. 75 years ago, was a clear statement. Never Again. Saturday, October 7 will go down in history…it is nothing less than a brutal massacre. It is a wake-up call for the entire free world, against extremism and terror.”

“This massacre will go down in history as more brutal than ISIS. Hamas are the new Nazis. Just, as the civilised world united to defeat the Nazis, ISIS, the civilised world has to stand united to defeat Hamas,” he added.