Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night blasted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over his latest criticism of Israel’s strikes in the Gaza Strip. Guterres had written in a post on X, “I am outraged by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. I strongly appeal for the ceasefire to be respected, for unimpeded humanitarian assistance to be reestablished and for the remaining hostages to be released unconditionally.” In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote, “We are outraged that you, Antonio Guterres, are the Secretary-General of the UN.” “Not a word about the fact that Hamas rejected two American proposals to extend the ceasefire and release more hostages—two proposals that Israel accepted,” added Marmorstein. “Not a word about the fact that Hamas exploits the transfer of goods to Gaza to rebuild its war machine in order to further attack Israel.” “Not a word about UNRWA, which, under your leadership, employs Hamas terrorists, and whose facilities were used by Hamas to hold hostages. Indeed, we are outraged by your moral bankruptcy,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson concluded. Israel launched the surprise strikes early Tuesday morning after Hamas refused to release more hostages and rejected US envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on Tuesday evening following the surprise strikes, saying, "We returned to fighting with strength, on the recommendation of security officials." Related articles: UN chief ‘outraged’ by Israeli strikes, calls for ceasefire UN chief urges Israel to allow aid into Gaza without delay 'Guterres, Turk have blood of Kfir & Ariel on their hands' UN chief calls for ceasefire, silent on freed hostages "This is just the beginning. We will continue to fight to achieve the goals of the war and the promise that Gaza will not pose a threat to Israel," he said. "From now on, negotiations will only take place under fire." "We extended the ceasefire in the weeks in which we did not receive any hostages, we sent delegations to Doha, we accepted the proposal of US envoy Witkoff, but in contrast, Hamas rejected every proposal. I accepted the recommendation of the IDF and the security establishment to return to fighting," Netanyahu added.
