Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan accused UN Secretary-General António Guterres of blatantly lying and denying the truth on Saturday after he condemned Israel for hitting an ambulance Israel maintained was transporting Hamas terrorists.
Guterres took to X (formerly Twitter) to say he was “horrified” by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry’s report that Israel had attacked an ambulance convoy outside Al-Shifa Hospital on Friday.
“Now, for nearly one month, civilians in Gaza, including children & women, have been besieged, denied aid, killed & bombed out of their homes,” Guterres continued in his condemnation. “This must stop.”
The IDF said Friday evening that an aircraft struck the ambulance, killing several Hamas terrorists inside. The IDF noted that it had information that Hamas used ambulances to transport terrorists and weapons. It said it would look into the Hamas Health Ministry’s claim.
Hamas uses ambulance in battle
Erdan wrote on X that “once again, you rush to condemn Israel without even bothering to ask what happened. You blatantly lie regarding the lack of aid entering Gaza, and you completely ignore the fact that Hamas intentionally exploits ambulances for terror.
“You didn’t ask for the truth bc [because] you don’t care about the truth,” the ambassador continued. “Instead, you prefer to falsely condemn Israel while making our hostages a literal footnote. It’s absolutely disgraceful. Where was your ‘horror’ when Hamas deliberately targeted Israeli ambulances with RPGs and executed paramedics in cold blood?”
Magen David Adom Director-General Eli Bin also responded on X. He said, "Our ambulances were intentionally torched and blown up by Hamas terrorists to prevent any attempt to save victims. @antonioguterres why are these deliberate attacks on Magen David Adom, Israel’s Red Cross, not worthy of your 'horror?' You will forever be remembered as the UN Secretary-General that aided terrorists and refused to condemn the murder of Israelis."
On October 7, Hamas infiltrated Israel and slaughtered more than 1,400 Israelis. It also took more than 240 people hostage in Gaza.
Guterres was among the first to condemn Israel last month after a report that Israeli rockets struck the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Multiple independent international investigations showed that the culprit was a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket and that the strike hit a parking lot, killing far fewer people than Hamas claimed initially.
Moreover, Israel revealed information last month that proves Hamas is using Al-Shifa Hospital as a command and control center.
Reuters contributed to this report.