UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres chose this evening (Wednesday) to invoke Article 99 for the first time in his tenure, calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the collapse and deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In a statement published by Guterres, it was written, "I have just invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter - for the first time in my tenure as Secretary-General, faced with a serious risk of the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, I am calling on the Council to help prevent a humanitarian disaster and request the declaration of a humanitarian ceasefire." The clause that Guterres invoked authorizes him to refer an issue to the Security Council if he sees it as a danger to world peace. It should be noted that this turn was not made during the Russia-Ukraine war.
Erdan: "The Secretary General continues to play into the hands of Hamas"
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, criticized Guterres' decision. "The Secretary-General has reached a new moral low: he is boasting that today for the first time he is activating Article 99 of the UN Charter in relation to the war in Gaza - an article that can only be invoked in a situation where global peace and security are threatened. The Secretary General remembered to activate a rare clause, only when it allows him to put pressure on Israel, which is fighting the Nazi Hamas terrorists. This is another proof of the Secretary General's moral distortion and his bias against Israel."
According to him, "The Secretary-General's call for a ceasefire is actually a call to keep Hamas's reign of terror in Gaza." He further stated, "Instead of the Secretary General explicitly pointing out that Hamas is responsible for the situation and calling on the terrorist leaders to turn themselves in and return the abductees, thereby ending the war, the Secretary General chooses to continue playing into Hamas's hands."
Finally, he emphasized that Guterres' conduct will allow the Hamas terrorists to continue to live. "The distorted positions of the Secretary-General only prolong the fighting in Gaza, because they give hope to the Hamas terrorists that the war will be stopped and they will be able to survive. I again call on the Secretary-General to resign immediately - the UN needs a Secretary-General who backs the war on terror and not a Secretary-General who acts according to the script written by Hamas."