Israel: ‘Gutteres’ tenure a threat to world peace’; Eli Cohen attacks Article 99 of UN Charter

Israel has criticized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for invoking Article 99 of the UN Charter amid the conflict in Gaza. Israel has also described Antonio Guterres’s tenure as a threat to world peace. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen made these allegations on the social media platform X.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in his post that this step of UN Chief Guterres is tantamount to supporting the Hamas terrorist group and the cowardly acts committed by it in Israel on October 7. He further wrote that he used a rarely used power to warn the Security Council about the ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Gaza and urged it to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. He said that Guterres’ tenure is a threat to world peace.

Cohen wrote that his request to activate Article 99 and call for a ceasefire in Gaza is an endorsement of the Hamas terrorist organization and its murder of the elderly, kidnapping of children and rape of women. He stressed that anyone who supports world peace should support the liberation of Gaza from Hamas.

United Nations Secretary General invoked Article 99
In fact, amid the conflict in Gaza, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres took a big step on Wednesday. They invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter and formally referred the situation in Gaza to the UN Security Council. The UN chief has urged the Security Council to stop the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. According to media reports, Guterres has sent a letter to 15 members of the UNSC, including the President, in which he said that the conflict has caused catastrophic human suffering and human destruction in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. The UN chief has also highlighted the plight of the citizens of Gaza, who are facing grave danger. Guterres has alleged that there is no effective protection for civilians in Gaza and no one is safe.

This is the first time Guterres did this
It is the first time that Guterres has invoked Article 99 of the Charter since becoming UN Secretary-General in 2017. The invocation of Article 99 of the UN Charter has been a rare occurrence in the world body’s 78-year-long existence. According to the information given by the United Nations, this has happened 10 times before when cases of threats to international peace and security have been brought to the Security Council by the UN Secretary General.