UNITED NATIONS, October 25. /TASS/. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly rejected accusations of justifying acts of terror by the Palestinian Hamas movement.

"I am shocked by the misinterpretations by some of my statements yesterday in the Security Council - as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite," Guterres told the media.

"Indeed, 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. And then I went on with my intervention referring to all my positions on all aspects of the Middle East crisis. I believe it was necessary to set the record straight - especially out of respect to the victims and to their families."

Speaking on Tuesday at a UN Security Council open debate on the situation in the Middle East, Guterres said he unequivocally condemned Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, but recalled that it emerged not out of nowhere and that the people of Palestine had been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. Israel's permanent representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called on Guterres to resign immediately in view of the lack of understanding of the "campaign of mass murder of children, women and the elderly" unleashed by Hamas. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said he was refusing to meet with Guterres in light of the escalating conflict.