#UN#Guterres#Israel#Hamas#Palestine#Gaza: "Israel is furious that Guterres had suggested the attacks by Hamas could not be seen in a vacuum but followed decades of occupation. Guterres had also accused Israel of clear violations of humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, and insisted that a humanitarian ceasefire was vital, a position that the US was close to accepting even if it would not use the term ceasefire, but instead a “humanitarian pause”. There were also reports that Israel was under pressure from the US to delay a ground invasion. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said a massive ground invasion by Israel would be a mistake.
Without mentioning Israel by name, a furious-looking Guterres made a press statement in New York recalling that in his remarks on Tuesday he had specifically said no Palestinian grievance could justify the horrendous attacks by Hamas.
Rebutting the criticism and insisting it was necessary to re-establish the truth, he said “I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement … as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite.”
Guterres had told the UN security council on Tuesday: “It is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”"
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