Israel's condemnation of Guterres ‘attempt of moral, political blackmail’: AL chief

Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit denounced Israel's recent condemnation of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the AL said in a statement on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

"It is an attempt of moral and political blackmail," Aboul-Gheit made the remarks before his return to Cairo following his participation in the UN Security Council (UNSC) session in New York, which was dedicated to discussing the developments in Gaza.

He emphasized that Guterres, in his address to the UNSC, expressed a principled and morally sound stance in line with his responsibilities as the head of the UN.

He agreed with Guterres's assertion that "at a critical moment like this, the principles must be unequivocal, especially in safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of civilians."

The pan-Arab body chair added that the "disgraceful attack" against Guterres seeks to "silence any voice that articulates the glaring truth."

On Tuesday, the UN chief highlighted that "the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. 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."

Israeli officials called on him to resign.

Aboul-Gheit called upon all parties to rally behind Guterres in the face of the "unjust aggression from Israel," which "aimed to silence his voice and subject him to blackmail."