The Israeli Government this Saturday accused the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, of siding with Hamas with its request for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Guterres’s call to side with Hamas and request a ceasefire dishonors his position,” wrote Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on the X social network.

The minister added that “the invocation of Article 99, after it was not used for the war in Ukraine or (…) in Syria, is another example of Guterres’ partial and unilateral position.”

“A ceasefire at this time would prevent the collapse of the terrorist organization Hamas, which is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and would allow it to continue ruling the Gaza Strip,” he warned.

Cohen expressed gratitude to the United States “for its support in continuing the fight to bring the hostages home and eliminate the Hamas terrorist organization, which will bring a better future to the region.”

For his part, Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, on the same social network, assured that “a ceasefire is giving a reward to Hamas, saying goodbye to the hostages held in Gaza.”

“Support Israel in our mission: we are fighting for our future and we are fighting for the free world,” he said.

Gallant also thanked the United States for “its bold leadership” in support of Israel.

Hamas, in a statement, condemned “Washington’s veto against a draft resolution in the UN Security Council that demands a ceasefire in Gaza. We consider it an immoral and inhumane position.”

The Islamist group showed its gratitude to the countries in favor of the cessation of hostilities, among which it cited Russia, China and “the Arab Group.”

Gueterres on Friday called for a de-escalation in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after invoking Article 99 of the United Nations Charter, which enables the Secretary General to address the Security Council in extraordinary situations.

The United States vetoed that request, considering that if Israel gave up its weapons, Hamas would continue to hold hostages and maintain control over the Strip.

The resolution had been presented by the United Arab Emirates, was sponsored by 97 member countries and supported by 13 members of the Council, with the United Kingdom abstaining.

In the more than two months of war, the Security Council has voted on several occasions other resolutions to call for an end to the conflict, with vetoes crossed by the United States and Russia, and only on November 15 did it manage to agree on a call for “pauses “humanitarian measures” in aid to civilians in Gaza.

However, the only declared truce, of seven days, was not the result of that resolution, but of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas with the mediation of Qatar and the United States to exchange hostages in the hands of the Islamist group for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.