Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan blasted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for invoking Article 99 of the UN’s charter.
Guterres said in a letter Wednesday it was the first time he invoked the “dramatic constitutional move” since he took the helm in 2017 to warn the Security Council of the “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza, urging for an immediate ceasefire.
Article 99 states, “the Secretary General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
I've just invoked Art.99 of the UN Charter - for the 1st time in my tenure as Secretary-General.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) December 6, 2023
Facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, I urge the Council to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe & appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. pic.twitter.com/pA0eRXZnFJ
NEW - Secretary-General Guterres invokes "Article 99" of the UN Charter for the first time.pic.twitter.com/xLvTiMMOh1
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 6, 2023
“Today, the Secretary-General has reached a new moral low,” Erdan said in response to the move. “The Secretary-General decided to activate this rare clause only when it allows him to put pressure on Israel, which is fighting the Nazi Hamas terrorists. This is more proof of the Secretary-General’s moral distortion and his bias against Israel.
“The Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire is actually a call to keep Hamas’s reign of terror in Gaza," Erdan continued. "Instead of the Secretary-General explicitly pointing to Hamas’s responsibility for the situation and calling on the terrorist leaders to turn themselves in and return the hostages, thus ending the war, the Secretary-General chooses to continue playing into Hamas’ hands.”
He urged Guterres to resign.
“The UN needs a Secretary-General who supports the war on terror, not a Secretary-General who acts according to the script written by Hamas," he Erdan added.
Today, the Secretary-General has reached a new moral low. He writes that he is activating, for the first time, Article 99 of the UN Charter in relation to the Israel-Hamas war, an article that can only be invoked in a situation where international peace and security are… pic.twitter.com/rQm18aT1vq
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) December 6, 2023
Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs also ripped Guterres for invoking the article.
Guterres’ tenure is a danger to world peace.
— אלי כהן | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) December 6, 2023
His request to activate Article 99 and the call for a cease fire in Gaza constitutes support of the Hamas terrorist organization and an endorsement of the murder of the elderly, the abduction of babies and the rape of women.
Anyone who…