The UN said Wednesday that Israel's decision to declare Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata is "one more attack on UN staff" by Tel Aviv.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric welcomed the support of UN Security Council members for Guterres at a session on the Middle East and said, "We saw this announcement this morning, which we see as a political statement by the (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu)."
Saying that it is "just one more attack on UN staff that we've seen from the government of Israel," Dujarric pledged the UN's continued cooperation and contact with Israel "at the operational level and other levels."
Noting that "persona non grata" was declared by other countries previously toward other UN staff, he said that the UN does "not recognize the concept of persona non grata applies to its staff."
"We see this announcement as a political statement, more than a legal one," Dujarric stressed, noting that Guterres only travels to a country upon the invitation of the relevant country.
Dujarric further stated that in his 24-year career, he had never encountered such a statement.
"There have been times where there have been extremely tense situations between the secretary general and various member states, but I don't recall this kind of language," he added.
Earlier, Israel announced that it declared Guterres "persona non grata," banning his entry into the country after he demanded an urgent de-escalation in the Middle East.
Seeking to justify the move, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Guterres did not "unequivocally condemn" Iran for its missile attack Tuesday on Israel.
After the strikes, Guterres said: "I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation," and urged an immediate cease-fire.
