On September 17 and 18, 2024, thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies, intended for use by Hezbollah, a terror organization operating across Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, exploded in a massive security breach. This comes after Hezbollah initiated the northern front against Israel by launching thousands of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians, beginning on October 8, 2023. Despite Hezbollah’s continued aggression and targeting of civilians, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has firmly denied any Israeli involvement in the recent explosions.
Yet, rather than condemning Hezbollah’s use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes or the thousands of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has instead chosen to issue a statement that “civilian objects should not be weaponized.” His words, clearly directed at Israel, reveal a troubling bias. Guterres’ statement not only downplays Hezbollah’s long-standing tactic of embedding its military operations within civilian areas but also diverts attention from the real issue—Hezbollah’s continuous violations of international law and its use of civilian objects to shield its terror activities.
Israel has consistently emphasized the importance of protecting civilian lives, a principle the UN Secretary-General appears to overlook. By failing to call out Hezbollah’s misuse of civilian objects for military gain, Guterres aligns himself with a narrative that protects terror organizations instead of condemning their actions. His pro-Hezbollah stance, demonstrated by his selective outrage, highlights a blatant hypocrisy that continues to plague the UN’s approach to Israel.
The real question is: why is Guterres so quick to criticize Israel while remaining silent on Hezbollah’s crimes? His refusal to hold terror organizations accountable is not just a failure of leadership but an endorsement of their tactics. By turning a blind eye to the true aggressors in this conflict, the UN Secretary-General is not promoting peace; he is enabling terrorism.
