There would be something wrong if the UN Secretary-General didn't call out war crimes being committed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Kieran Cuddihy has said.
The Hard Shoulder host was speaking as the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called on UN chief António Guterres to "resign immediately" on Tuesday, calming he "is not fit to lead the UN".
Mr Erdan claimed that in noting the Hamas attacks on Israel "did not happen in a vacuum" in an address, Mr Guterres was "justifying terrorism".
Mr Guterres hit back on Wednesday and said he was “shocked by the misrepresentation by some of my statement.”
Without referring to Israeli diplomats specifically, Mr Guterres said it was "necessary to set the record straight - especially out of respect to the victims and to their families".
"There would be something fundamentally flawed with the United Nations if António Guterres was not calling this out" @kierancuddihy
on war crimes in Gaza. @TheHardShoulder pic.twitter.com/C6vM6bDBFU— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) October 25, 2023
Kieran said Mr Guterres is not a mouthpiece for Hamas.
"When António Guterres is describing what is happening in the Gaza Strip, he is not repeating Hamas talking points," he said.
"He is repeating what he has been told by his own rapporteurs, UN rapporteurs on the ground, by Human Rights Watch, by Amnesty International, by the World Health Organisation.
"The WHO say over 50 medical facilities have been bombed by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] - that is a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
"The evacuation order for over a million people in northern Gaza, telling them to move to southern Gaza which is still being bombed, that is a forcible transfer of a civilian population.
"That is a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
"The use of white phosphorous, artillery rounds in civilian areas by the IDF - as reported by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International - that is a war crime.
"The blockade that is going on food, fuel and electricity to a civilian population in Gaza, that is collective punishment, that is a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
"Then there's just the overall nature of the bombing campaign itself."
UN Secretary-General António Guterres hit back at Israeli claims on Wednesday in New York. Image: UNLast week, the UN said at least six people were killed when an UNRWA school in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, being used as a shelter, was hit in the middle of the Gaza Strip.
Kieran said he believes Mr Guterres would be remiss not to call out such crimes.
"There would be something fundamentally flawed with the United Nations if António Guterres was not calling this out, and not pleading for civilians to be better protected," he said.
"The hostage taking that Hamas have engaged in, that is unequivocally a war crime under the Geneva Conventions," he added.
