UN chief regrets ‘misrepresentations’ of his Mideast remarks

AFP :
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday rejected the “misrepresentations” of his remarks a day earlier on Palestinian grievances that infuriated Israel, which has vowed to retaliate against the world body.

“I am shocked by misrepresentations by some of my statement yesterday in the Security Council-as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas,” Guterres told reporters, without naming Israel.

Addressing a Security Council session on Tuesday, the UN chief, again without naming Israel, denounced “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.”

In remarks that especially outraged Israel, he said it was important to “recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum” as the Palestinians have been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”