Israeli Foreign Minister cancels meeting with Guterres over his remarks

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, in a post on the X social media platform, stated, "I will not meet with the UN Secretary-General. After October 7, there is no such thing as a balanced approach. Hamas must be wiped off the face of the earth."

UN Secretary-General Guterres, in his speech at the high-level Israel-Palestine session held at the UN Security Council, condemned the attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7 and continued his remarks as follows:

"But we must also be aware that 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 has been stifled, people have been displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to this plight have been vanishing."

Guterres emphasized that Hamas's attacks on Israelis "cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," adding, "Even wars have rules."