Israel has banned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres from entering the country, Reuters reports, citing Israel's Foreign Minister Katz. The reason is that the Portuguese did not condemn "unequivocally" Iran's missile attack, as quoted by Focus.
On Tuesday, Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel amid escalating fighting between the Shiite group "Hezbollah" in Lebanon. Many of the missiles were intercepted in midair, but some penetrated missile defenses. One death is known – Palestinian.
On the same day, Guterres issued a brief statement that mentioned only the "latest attacks in the Middle East" and condemned the conflict "with escalation after escalation". Earlier on Tuesday, Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon.
Katz claims that the "failure" for Guterres to call on Iran to refrain from escalation makes him persona non grata in Israel.
"Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil," Katz explained.
"Israel will continue to protect its citizens and defend its national dignity, with or without Antonio Guterres," he added.