Israel has declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata and banned him from entering the country, Reuters reports.
According to the media outlet, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced it.
He said that «anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step on Israeli soil».
Recall, Israel began striking Beirut amid an escalation in the conflict with the Hezbollah group.
On September 30, the Israeli army struck the center of the Lebanese capital for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, which followed the liquidation of the movement’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
It is noted that over the past two weeks, more than 1,000 Lebanese residents have died, 600 more were injured, and about a million people have been displaced, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported.
On October 2, Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel amid escalating fighting between the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which enjoys Iranian support, and Israel. Most of the missiles were intercepted in the air, but some penetrated the missile defense. No consequences were reported. At the same time, Iran claims that 90 percent of the missiles fired hit their targets.
The UN Secretary-General posted on X that he condemns the expansion of the Middle East conflict «with escalation after escalation» and calls for a ceasefire.
