Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokeswoman denounced UN Secretary-General António Guterres for saying Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack that killed an estimated 1,400 people "did not happen in a vacuum."
Guterres addressed the UN Security Council describing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need for a two-state solution.
"It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation," he said. "They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing."
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"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."
Netanyahu spokeswoman Tal Heinrich said Guterres’ remarks showed there is anti-Israel bias at the United Nations.
"This is nothing new, this crazy double-standard. What the UN secretary-general said, that this Hamas attack, the massacre of Oct. 7, didn't come in a 'vacuum.' That is mind-boggling," she said Tuesday on "America Reports."
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"Can you imagine the UN secretary-general saying such a terrible sentence after the 9/11 attack? That the 9/11 attack didn't come in a vacuum? That the Pearl Harbor attack didn't come in a vacuum? That the Boko Haram kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014 didn't come in a vacuum?" Heinrich asked. "This is insane. This is insanity. The civilized world must stand with Israel in its war against terrorism. The message that a UN secretary-general must send out is that terrorism is a dead end."
Guterres told the Security Council he was "deeply concerned" about the "clear violations of international humanitarian law" in Gaza after Israel cut off water, electricity, food and fuel.
The IDF continued to strike the Gaza Strip, writing Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, that it had struck 400 military targets, including Hamas command centers, within the past 24 hours.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said hundreds of Palestinians were killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States couldn’t verify the death toll put out by the Health Ministry and urged caution about the numbers publicly released.
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"The Ministry of Health is run by Hamas, and I think that all needs to be factored into anything that they put out publicly," he said, according to a White House transcript.
Heinrich told "America Reports" co-anchor Sandra Smith that Israel is communicating with its international partners about an expected ground invasion.
"Our military generals and our political leadership are the ones that will make these decisions when to move to stage two, stage three of this operation," the spokeswoman explained.
She added that the Israeli government is working to secure the release of the hostages taken by Hamas and called on the international community to also demand their immediate release.
Heinrich said the only reason four hostages had been released was because of mounting pressure.
"Let's not be mistaken here. The Hamas terrorist organization did not change overnight and turn into this human rights organization or anything like that. No sympathy here of course. They are the ones who butchered, tortured, raped our people," she said. "They are the ones who turned people into ashes so badly that 18 days after that massacre, we are still unable to identify some of the victims."
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