Deputy Premier and Transport and
Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini has blasted United
Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres for saying that,
while Hamas's attacks on Israel on were appalling, they did not
happen in a vacuum.
Guterres said the Palestinian people have suffered "56 years of
suffocating occupation" adding that Israel's bombing and
blockage of the Gaza Strip was "collective punishment" of them.
Salvini said the comments were "serious and unacceptable,"
adding there can be "no justification for terrorism".
Salvini met a group of Israeli survivors and families of
hostages held by Hamas on Tuesday.
Israel has called on Guterres to resign, saying his words were a
justification of terrorism and murder.
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