UN: Israel Declaring Guterres Persona Non Grata is Political Move

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stressed that Israel's decision to declare UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata is a political move and "just one more attack, so to speak, on UN staff that we've seen from the government of Israel." In a press remarks, Dujarric expressed his appreciation for the support shown to the Secretary-General by members of the UN Security Council in light of Israel's announcement. He added that other countries have made similar decisions against other UN personnel, noting that the UN does "not recognize the concept of persona non grata applies to its staff." Dujarric emphasized that in his 24-year career, he had never encountered a statement comparable to Israel's declaration against the UN Secretary-General. Earlier, Israeli entity's Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Antonio Guterres is barred from entering Israel because, as he claimed, the Secretary-General had not "unequivocally" condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel. Source: Qatar News Agency