The UN Secretary-General says he is “shocked” at the “misinterpretations” of his statement at the Security Council, calling the interpretation “false.”

António Guterres sought to “set the record straight” by re-reading his statements from the day prior at an impromptu appearance at the UN Security Council stakeout in New York Wednesday.

Here’s what he said on Tuesday:

“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” Guterres said. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished.”
“But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Excellencies, even war has rules,” he added.

Guterres reiterated Wednesday that he had condemned unequivocally “the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel.”

The UN chief acknowledged that he “spoke of the grievances of the Palestinian people,” while also emphasizing he said it “cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.”

This comes as a diplomatic spat between Israel and the United Nations has broken out, with Israeli officials calling for the resignation of the Secretary-General and halting visas for UN officials.

Protesting the UN chief’s indirect criticism of Israel, Israel’s UN envoy says ‘the time has come to teach them a lesson’.

Israel will refuse visas to United Nations officials, its ambassador to the UN has said, as the country’s spat with the international organisation deepens.

Gilad Erdan made the statement on Wednesday, according to Israeli media, as the fallout from the UN chief’s speech at the Security Council the previous day continues.

Many countries welcomed Guterres’s “very balanced approach”, However, Israel was “furious” and its officials called on the UN chief to resign.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who was at the debate, “was so upset”, said Elizondo, “that he cancelled a meeting with the secretary-general that was supposed to happen Tuesday afternoon”.

“It is really unusual to see this sort of reaction against the secretary-general,” Elizondo added.

“Due to his [Guterres’s] remarks, we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives,” Erdan told Army Radio. “We have already refused a visa for Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.”

Erdan said on X, formerly Twitter, that the UN chief has “expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder” with this speech.