Benny Gantz, chairman of the state camp, tweeted a short time ago (Tuesday) in response to the UN secretary-general's remarks, writing: "Days when the UN secretary-general backs terrorism are dark days for the world. There is no way to justify the massacre of innocent civilians. Whoever is not on the right side of history will be judged by it. Whoever justifies terrorism does not deserve to speak for the world."
Days when the UN Secretary-General backs terrorism are dark days for the world. There is no way to justify the massacre of innocent civilians. Whoever is not on the right side of history will be judged by it. Whoever justifies terrorism does not deserve to speak for the world.
— Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 24, 2023
This comes against the backdrop of UN Secretary-General António Guterres' statement at the Security Council about the Hamas attack: "Hamas's attack was not in a vacuum. The Palestinians are suffering from 56 years of occupation."
"Shocking and appalling opinions"
"We must recognize that Hamas attacks did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinians live under a stifling occupation, their lands are being taken, the economy is paralyzed and their homes have been destroyed." Guterres added: "I unreservedly condemned the horrific attack by terrorists on Israeli citizens. There is nothing that can justify this, and the abductees must be released immediately."
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called Guterres' speech "shocking" and said that "while missiles are being fired at all of Israel, the speech proved beyond any doubt that the secretary-general is completely detached from the reality in our region and that he sees in a distorted and immoral way the massacre of our children by Hamas murderers."
"His statement that the murderous terrorist attack by Nazi Hamas 'did not take place in a vacuum' is a justification for terrorism and murder," Erdan added. "It's shocking. It is sad that an organization that arose in the wake of the Holocaust is headed by a person with such views. Horrifying."
"What is a proportionate response to killing a baby?"
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen revealed at a UN Security Council meeting a recording of a terrorist who boasted to his parents about the murder of Jews. Cohen read out the names of some of the children abducted by Hamas to Gaza. Cohen also made it clear to the foreign ministers and members of the Security Council that Israel's war is "the war of the free world," and called on all countries in the world that did so to declare Hamas a terrorist organization.
"As we meet here today, young babies, children, being held in Gaza, it is beyond imagination, living in a nightmare. Ofri, 10, Abigail, 3, Emma, 17, Raz, 4.5, Aviv, 2.5, Ariel, 4, and little Kfir, only 9 months. These are just a few of the many children and babies who have not seen evil, they have not caused evil, but they are victims of evil. These children witnessed a horror that cannot be described in words."
"Families disappeared in the middle of the day. Mothers look for children in vain. We must remember and never forget. At the birth of the State of Israel, 75 years ago, there was a clear statement: Never again."
Later in his speech, Cohen said, "Saturday, October 7, will go down in history as a day of brutal massacre. It is a wake-up call for the entire free world. On the same day, more than 1500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists infiltrated Israel from the south. With an evil that surpasses even ISIS, killing over 1400 babies, children, women and men and wounding over 4,000. They went from house to house, slaughtering families and individuals in their beds, in the streets, on their way to synagogue, raping and mutilating, dancing and chanting on people's bodies. Many of them have not yet been buried and we will now say Kaddish."
Cohen referred to the 220 abductees held captive by Hamas and demanded their unconditional release. "Moran Aloni is present in this room. Seven members of the family were taken hostage. Moran's sisters, Sharon Aloni, Kunio and Daniel Aloni, were abducted along with Sharon's husband David and their three-year-old twins, Maya and Yuli, alongside Daniel's five-year-old daughter, Emilia. In the early hours of the morning, Sharon wrote in her family group chat that there were Hamas terrorists in their home and that they were hiding in the dimension, and a few minutes later she wrote that the terrorists had set fire to the house and were suffocating. A few minutes later, Moran received a private message from his sister, "We're dead, help us."
Cohen said that "Qatar, which funds and protects Hamas leaders, can influence and enable the immediate and unconditional release of the abductees held by the terrorists. You, members of the international community, should demand that Qatar do just that."
The foreign minister played a recording of one of the terrorists calling his mother to boast that he had murdered Jews and said, "I hear the calls for proportionality. I hear the calls for a ceasefire. Tell me - what is a proportionate response to killing a baby? About raping a woman? About the beheading of a child? How can you agree to a ceasefire with someone who has sworn to kill and destroy you?"
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