Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon condemned a United Nations official over remarks that he said ‘shattered any notion of neutrality.’
On Tuesday, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher accused Israel of committing genocide in his remarks before the U.N. Security Council.
‘Israel is deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,’ Fletcher told the Security Council on Tuesday. He went on to say that most of Gaza ‘is either within Israeli-militarized zones or under displacement orders.’
Fletcher, who heads the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), also described how Gazans are struggling due to a lack of supplies, as aid trucks have not been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip for 10 weeks. Hospitals are ‘overwhelmed,’ and people are facing famine and starvation, according to Fletcher.
‘So, for those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need now? Will you act – decisively – to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or will you say instead that ‘we did all we could?’,’ Fletcher said.
While much of Fletcher’s remarks focused on Gaza, he also condemned the ‘appalling violence’ increasing in the West Bank. The next day, May 14, a pregnant Israeli woman was killed in a shooting attack while on her way to the hospital to give birth. Tzeela Gez lost her life, but doctors were able to save her baby, who, according to The Associated Press, is ‘in serious but stable condition.’
In his response, Danon said Fletcher’s remarks ‘shocked and disturbed’ him, accusing the U.N. official of making an ‘utterly inappropriate and deeply irresponsible’ statement that ‘shattered any notion of neutrality.’
‘You had the audacity, in your capacity as a senior U.N. official, to stand before the Security Council and invoke the charge of genocide without evidence, mandate, or restraint,’ Danon wrote in his response. ‘As a senior representative of the United Nations, you are obligated to refrain from prejudging complex international matters. Yet, this is precisely what you did before the Council. You did not brief the Council; you delivered a political sermon.’
In response to a Fox News Digital request for comment, OCHA spokesperson Eri Kaneko said that ‘As Mr. Fletcher made clear in his Security Council remarks, it is for legal bodies to consider whether a genocide is taking place – Mr. Fletcher’s point is that the world must take decisive action to prevent genocide and ensure respect for international humanitarian law.’
When asked whether Fletcher was accusing Israel of deliberately killing and harming civilians, Kaneko said that the official’s words speak for themselves, as ‘not a single civilian in Gaza – teachers, artists, merchants, aid workers, hostages – has been spared.’
Danon questioned under whose authority Fletcher issued the accusation and said the U.N. official’s use of the word ‘genocide’ was a ‘desecration and subversion of a term with unique force and weight.’ He went on to say that what made Fletcher’s remarks ‘far worse’ was the fact that Israel had ‘engaged with you and your office in good faith at the highest levels.’
The Israeli ambassador concluded his letter by turning the questions around on Fletcher, telling the OCHA chief to ask himself whether he had done enough to prevent Oct. 7, accelerate the release of the hostages and hold Hamas accountable.
Kaneko told Fox News Digital that ‘Mr. Fletcher has repeatedly and publicly spoken out against what he calls the horrendous Hamas-led attacks and called for the release of the hostages. Mr. Fletcher was deeply moved by his visit in February to the kibbutz of Nir Oz, where one in four people were killed or taken hostage.’