Israel denying visas to UN officials after Guterres seemed to justify Hamas assault

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan says the country will deny visas to UN officials after remarks by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that appeared to justify Hamas’s brutal assault on Israel.

“Due to his remarks we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives,” Erdan tells Army Radio.

“We have already refused a visa for Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths,” Erdan said. “The time has come to teach them a lesson.”

“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” Guterres said at a UN Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war, which erupted when the terror group ravaged Israeli border communities, killing some 1,400 people, the vast majority of them civilians.