UN chief rejects Israeli accusations he justified attacks

UN chief Antonio Gutteres has rejected Israeli accusations that he justified Hamas attacks.

"I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement... as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite," he told reporters on Wednesday. 

A day earlier, he told the Security Council meeting in New York: "It is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation."

"They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements, plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced, and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing," he continued. 

He went on to say that such grievances could not justify "appalling attacks by Hamas", and those attacks could not justify "collective punishment" of Palestinians. 

Israel responded by calling for Guterres to resign, and denying visas to UN officials. 

Despite the backlash, Guterres met with representatives of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.