‘Blatant lie’ – Israeli diplomats spar with UN, EU leaders over counter-terror raid in Judea and Samaria

The large-scale counter-terror operation that the Israeli army launched in Judea and Samaria on Wednesday predictably drew condemnations from international diplomats.

On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon were already embroiled in online sparring sessions with senior international diplomats.

Katz even explicitly accused the European Union’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, of lying. The EU chief has made numerous hostile statements about Israel during his time in office.

During an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday, Borrell said that “it is still more worrisome the call from the minister for foreign affairs of Israel to displace people from the West Bank, doing more or less the same thing that they did with the people in Gaza. This is completely unacceptable.”

He later wrote on 𝕏: “The Israeli major military operation in the occupied West Bank must not constitute the premises of a war extension from Gaza, incl. full-scale destruction. The parallel drew by Minister Katz, especially on evacuating Palestinian residents, threatens to fuel further instability.”

Katz hit back: “This is a blatant lie, just like his previous falsehood regarding my statements about Gaza, from which he was forced to retract.”

The previous day, Katz wrote on 𝕏 that Israeli forces were working to “dismantle Islamic-Iranian terror infrastructures” in Judea and Samaria.

“We must address this threat by all necessary means, including, in some cases of intense combat, allowing the population to temporarily evacuation from one neighborhood to another within the refugee camp to prevent civilian harm.”

United Nations Sec.-Gen. António Guterres joined others in condemning the Israeli operation, during which the IDF reported that 12 terrorists were killed, 10 were arrested and dozens of explosive devices were destroyed.

“Latest developments in the occupied West Bank, including Israel's launch of large-scale military operations, are deeply concerning,” Guterres wrote.

“I strongly condemn the loss of lives, including of children, and I call for an immediate cessation of these operations,” he said, adding that only an “end to the occupation” and a two-state solution would “bring an end to the violence.”

“The State of Israel will not sit idly by and wait for scenes of buses and cafes exploding in city centers,” retorted Danon, Israel’s new UN envoy.

“Since October 7th, Iran has been actively working to smuggle sophisticated explosive devices into Judea and Samaria, intended for use in suicide bombings in the heart of Israeli cities.”

“The IDF’s operations in Judea and Samaria have a clear goal: preventing Iranian terror-by-proxy that would harm Israeli civilians,” Danon added.