Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, were "complicit in war crimes" in response to the UN chief's reference to the strike that killed Mohammad Abu Itiwi in a Friday post on X/Twitter.
Itiwi, a Nukhba commander in the Al Bureij Battalion of Hamas's Central Camps Brigade, was included in a list of UNRWA employees and personnel.
"UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared persona non grata in Israel, has reached new heights of hypocrisy and insensitivity. Last night, he lamented the elimination of their 'UNRWA colleague' by IDF forces in Gaza," Katz wrote.
UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres, declared persona non grata in Israel, has reached new heights of hypocrisy and insensitivity. Last night, he lamented the elimination of their "UNRWA colleague" by IDF forces in Gaza.Who exactly is he mourning? Mohammad Abu Itiwi, a… pic.twitter.com/xgOMMhZTbK
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) October 25, 2024
"Who exactly is he mourning? Mohammad Abu Itiwi, a commander in the Nukhba Unit of the Al-Bureij Battalion, who led the massacre in the shelter in Re’im on October 7, and whose details were exposed yesterday by the IDF spokesperson," the foreign minister continued.
"Guterres and UNRWA are complicit in war crimes," Katz concluded.
Earlier on Friday, Guterres posted on X regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, adding, "And in the central Gaza Strip, a strike took the life of yet another one of our UNRWA colleagues."
The humanitarian situation in northern Gaza is the worst we have seen since this horrific nightmare began.Our polio vaccination campaign should be underway now but we’ve been forced to suspend it due to relentless violence & a persistent lack of access. This places some of the…
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 24, 2024
According to Katz, Guterres's post references Itiwi.
IDF kills terrorist Mohammad Abu Itiwi
On Thursday, the IDF said it had struck and eliminated Itiwi.
The military noted that on October 7, Itiwi led the attack on the mobile bomb shelter on Route 232 in the area of Re'im in southern Israel, where those fleeing from the Hamas attacks at the Nova Music Festival took cover.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alon Ohel, Or Levy, and Eliya Cohen were taken hostage while they hid in it.