Israel declares Guterres persona non grata

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata in Israel and banned him from entering the country, reported Xinhua.

According to a statement released by Katz, the decision was made after Guterres refrained from condemning the Iranian missile attack against Israel on Tuesday evening.

"Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil," Katz explained in a statement.

Iran launched about 180 ballistic missiles at targets in Israel on Tuesday evening. Tehran claims this action was in retaliation for Israel's assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan, as well as Israel's escalating "malicious acts" against Lebanese and Palestinian people with U.S. support.