Wide-angle shot of the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East

The Security Council told the media on Thursday that its members affirmed their full support for the important role of UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the United Nations as a whole.

They stressed the need for all Member States to have a productive relationship with the Secretary-General and to refrain from any action that would undermine the work of the Secretary-General and his Office.

Members of the Council further stressed that any decision not to engage with the Secretary-General of the United Nations or the United Nations would be counterproductive, especially in the current context of escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The final outburst of long-standing discontent

On Tuesday, Israel's Foreign Minister Katz declared U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres persona "persona non grata" and barred him from entering Israel, the first time in history that a U.N. member state has taken similar action against a U.N. secretary-general. Katz claimed the decision was due to Guterres' failure to unequivocally condemn Iran's missile attack on Israel and accused him of actually supporting terrorism.

Israel has long been dissatisfied with the United Nations position on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and after the Hamas raid on Israel on 7 October, which triggered the Kazakh-Israeli war, Israel's dissatisfaction with the United Nations has intensified.