A Canadian Lynn Hastings was appointed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in December 2020 as the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian Territories and deputy to the Middle East envoy, Tor Wennesland.
“We have been informed by the Israeli authorities that they will not renew the visa [Lynn] Hastings then expires at the end of this month,” Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced, without specifying whether the Jerusalem-based person in charge would be replaced or continue his work elsewhere.
He only guaranteed that the Canadian woman continues to have “full confidence” in the secretary-general.
“They saw some public attacks against him on Twitter [atual rede social X]This is totally unacceptable,” he added.
In late October, the Israeli Foreign Ministry attacked Lynn Hastings, citing her name on social network X, accusing her of not being “impartial” or “objective.”
“Lynn Hastings’ dangerous rhetoric puts innocent Israeli and Palestinian citizens at risk,” reads one video, lamenting that she was unable to condemn the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas sooner.
Other UN representatives have been sharply criticized by Israeli officials since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which was sparked by an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory by the Palestinian movement in early October.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, has repeatedly called on Antonio Guterres to resign. At the end of October, the UN said it was “hostile” to Israel. He also announced that Israel would stop issuing visas to the delegation, a case he said would also apply to Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths.
The decision was taken in response to Guterres’ statements to the UN Security Council that Hamas’ “terrible” October 7 attacks “did not come out of nowhere”, but rather “the Palestinian people have been living there for 56 years”. to a suffocating occupation”, in a context of “their hope for a political solution [para o conflito israelo-palestiniano] are disappearing.”
On October 7, fighters from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) — which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel — launched an attack on Israeli territory. More than 1,200 people died, mostly civilians, 5,000 were injured and about 240 were taken hostage.
In response, Israel declared a war to “exterminate” Hamas, which began with daily bombings and cuts to food, water, electricity and fuel supplies in the Gaza Strip, followed by a ground offensive.
The war between Israel and Hamas continues to threaten to spill over into the Middle East region, with more than 15,000 dead, mostly civilians, and more than 33,000 injured in the Gaza Strip so far, according to a recent report by local authorities. , and 1.7 million displaced people, according to the UN, those poor Palestinians are mired in a severe humanitarian crisis.
In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, 248 Palestinians have been killed since October 7 in attacks by Israeli forces or settlers.
Also Read: Three more journalists killed in Gaza The total has risen to 73
All news. in minutes.
Consumer Choice for Online Press for seventh year in a row.
Download our free app.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”