Tel Aviv, Dec 9 (IANS): Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Saturday hit out at United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, accusing him of standing with Palestinian terror group Hamas in his appeal before the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Guterres, who for the first time invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter earlier this week, which enables a UN chief to raise threats he sees to international peace and security, warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and urged the council to demand a humanitarian ceasefire.

A subsequent vote was held to adopt an Arab-backed resolution to call for the ceasefire, and had wide support but the vote was vetoed by the United States of America and the United Kingdom abstained.

In a post on X, Cohen said Guterres’ call “disgraces his position and constitutes a mark of Cain on the UN.”

“The invocation of Article 99, after it was not used for the war in Ukraine or for the civil war in Syria, is another example of Guterres’ biased and one-sided stance,’ Cohen wrote.

Cohen said a “ceasefire at this time would prevent the collapse of the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and would enable it to continue ruling the Gaza Strip.”