Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen alleged that his country is acting under international law and never targets civilians amid outcry about its massacre in Gaza, where over 5,700 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes on hospitals, refugee shelters, schools, marketplaces and more.
When asked by Anadolu Agency (AA) about U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remarks at a U.N. Security Council meeting where he said "humanitarian pauses must be considered" to get civilians "out of harm's way," Cohen responded: "We never targeted people."
"Israel is working according to international law. We give humanitarian aid, water, food and medicine. We never targeted people," he said. "We are only targeting Hamas terrorists."
Cohen said Israel "will have to make an assessment" regarding relations with the U.N.
"We have been complaining for a long time," he said, accusing U.N. representatives in Israel of distorting reality.
"They don't report what is really happening, they take things out of context," he said.
He also accused U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of not representing "the most important" members of the U.N., such as the EU, the U.S., Germany and France – countries that have designated Palestine resistance group, Hamas, a terrorist organization and are working to release the hostages.
The remarks came after Cohen announced he would cancel his meeting with Guterres after he told the Security Council that Palestinians had been "subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation," adding: "It is important also to recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum."
Israel has continued a relentless bombardment campaign on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Israeli border towns on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 Israelis.
Nearly 5,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the bombardment began, including more than 2,000 children, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry.
Israel also cut off water and electricity supplies to Gaza, worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.
