UN chief banned from Israel in row over Iran

NEW YORK, Oct 02 (BBC/AFP): The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has been banned from entering Israel over his response to Iran's ballistic missile bombardment.

In a statement, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Guterres an "anti-Israel secretary-general who lends support to terrorists".

Writing on social media site X, formerly Twitter, after Iran fired about 180 missiles into Israel, Guterres said he condemned "the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation" and said these "must stop".

He said the region "absolutely" needed a ceasefire, but did not specifically mention the Iran attack.

In a statement on Wednesday, Katz declared the UN secretary general persona non grata, saying that anyone who "cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil".

He specifically criticised Guterres for "his anti-Israel policy since the beginning of the war". Tuesday's attack by Iran is the latest in a series of escalations, starting almost a year ago with attacks on Israel by Hamas, and recently involving increased fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.