Israel’s permanent representative to the UN announced the severance of ties with the UN Coordinator for the Middle East

Israeli Permanent Representative to the UN Gilad Erdan announced the severance of ties with UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Thor Wennesland, RIA Novosti writes.

Reportedly, the reason for this was the latter’s failure to condemn Iran during his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Lebanon. In a post on social media, X Erdan addressed Wennesland, calling on him to “wash the blood of Israeli children off his hands” after that handshake. He also posted a photo of the two above-mentioned politicians together.

Israel’s permanent representative to the UN spoke of “changed rules” and his country’s reluctance to recognize Iran’s legitimacy.

“I officially announce the severance of my ties with Wennesland until he publicly condemns the Iranian regime,” the Israeli politician said.

At the same time, the UN sided with Wennesland. The official representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said that he was working to free the hostages, ensure humanitarian access and prevent the expansion of the conflict zone.

On October 7, Israel was attacked by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement, which carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. After a rocket attack, a centurion of Hamas fighters entered Israeli territory. Subsequently, Israel launched a retaliatory Operation Iron Swords, returned control of all settlements near the border with Gaza, and began to attack Gaza with aircraft and missiles, and also blocked supplies of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel to the region.

The number of victims of the exacerbation on both sides has long exceeded a thousand; among the dead there are citizens of Russia and many other countries. The Israel Defense Forces reported that Hamas was holding more than 120 civilians hostage in the Gaza Strip.

The Russian Foreign Ministry appealed to both sides to stop the fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the conflict cannot be resolved otherwise than on the basis of a decision of the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, in a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, pointed out the importance of following the “law of war” amid the worsening Palestinian-Israeli conflict, RIA Novosti reports, citing a statement from the US Department of Defense.

By ordering the evacuation of more than 2,000 patients from 22 hospitals in northern Gaza, Israeli authorities are effectively imposing a death sentence on patients, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. WHO also notes the growing number of wounded people being admitted to hospitals in northern Gaza, as well as the fact that health facilities are operating beyond their capacity. The organization called on Israeli authorities to immediately lift evacuation orders for hospitals in northern Gaza, and to protect medical facilities, their workers and patients, as well as civilians in general.