UN chief Guterres says row with Israel based on 'misinterpretation'

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he was "shocked" by what he described as "misinterpretations" of remarks he made a day earlier at the UN Security Council on Hamas's 7 October terror attacks on Israel.

"I am shocked by misrepresentations by some of my statement yesterday in the Security Council, as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite," Guterres told reporters. "I believe it was necessary to set the record straight, especially out of respect for the victims and their families."

In an address Tuesday to the UN Security Council, Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire and decried "clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza."

He said Palestinians had been subjected to decades of occupation, before adding: "It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum."

"I spoke of the grievances of the Palestinian people. And in doing so, I also clearly stated, and I quote: 'But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas'," the UN chief added.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, as well as by Germany and the EU among others.

Israel lambasted Guterres's comments.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan called on him to resign, accusing him of "expressing an understanding" for the "terrorism and murder" of Hamas' October 7 attacks.