UN Security Council backs Guterres after Israel bars him from country

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations Security Council on Thursday expressed its full support for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after Israel's foreign minister said he was barring him from entering the country.

The 15-member council said in a statement that “any decision not to engage with the U.N. Secretary-General or the United Nations is counterproductive, especially in the context of escalating tensions in the Middle East.”

The statement did not name Israel. Such statements by the council are agreed by consensus. — Reuters