UN Secretary General Calls for a Ceasefire Following Iran's Missile Barrage

On October 1^st, the Iranian regime fired 181 ballistic missiles at targets all over Israel, including civilian population centers. Fortunately, Israel’s air defense systems, with some help from the United States, intercepted virtually all the incoming missiles. The one fatality was a Palestinian who was struck by shrapnel in the West Bank.

“The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu in response to Iran's missile attack. “[Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and [top Hamas military commander Muhammad] Deif did not understand this, [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah and [Hezbollah chief of staff Fuad] Shukr did not understand this, and there are probably those in Tehran who do not understand this.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu made clear to Iran that it will pay a heavy price for its massive missile barrage. “We will stand by the rule we established: Whoever attacks, we will attack them.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres reacted with his usual call for an unconditional ceasefire. “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation,” he said. “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”

The next day, October 2^nd, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting. Secretary General Guterres delivered remarks that cast blame on both Israel and Hezbollah for dramatically escalating their conflict that has spilled over deep into Lebanon. He got through more than half of his remarks before finally condemning the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile attack on Israel the previous day.

“Yesterday, Iran launched approximately 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel,” he said. “As I did in relation to the Iranian attack in April -- and as should have been obvious yesterday in the context of the condemnation I expressed -- I again strongly condemn yesterday’s massive missile attack by Iran on Israel.”

Secretary General Guterres’ moral equivalence and failure to acknowledge that Israel is in a fight for its very existence

But again, Secretary General Guterres called for an end to all hostilities in the region, essentially saying that Israel should simply turn the other cheek and let the Iranian regime’s brazen attack go unanswered. “It is high time to stop the sickening cycle of escalation after escalation that is leading the people of the Middle East straight over the cliff,” he told the Security Council. “This deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop.”

Secretary General Guterres’ moral equivalence and failure to acknowledge that Israel is in a fight for its very existence as a Jewish state evidently angered Israeli leaders to the point of declaring him a “persona non grata.” Whether he meant to or not, Mr. Guterres played right into the Iranian regime’s hands. Iran has no intention of stopping the escalation of violence that it has fomented against Israel, first through its terrorist proxies and now with its own ballistic missile attacks, unless its bloodthirsty rulers get their way.

On October 4^th, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “We support efforts to achieve a cease-fire that includes, first, respect for the rights of the Lebanese people and acceptance of Hezbollah’s resistance, and second, a cease-fire to be proclaimed simultaneously with a cease-fire in Gaza.”

Peace at any price is not real peace at all

Peace at any price is not real peace at all. To ask Israel to accept a ceasefire that leaves Hamas in a position to strike Israel again and again, and that includes “acceptance of Hezbollah’s resistance,” is to ask Israel to sign its own death warrant. 

The primary way to stop the violence in the Middle East region is to stop the Iranian regime from continuing to foment incessant violence in its relentless campaign to destroy Israel and achieve regional hegemony. The Iranian regime established terrorist proxies who make up what the regime refers to as the “axis of resistance,” which include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the Houthi terrorists in Yemen. The regime believed that it had Israel encircled with a ring of fire, which it could turn into an inferno engulfing Israel when the time was right. Now, the Iranian regime has twice attacked Israel directly from Iran’s own soil.

Israel is preparing a “significant” counterattack against Iran’s assets in retaliation for Iran’s missile barrage. Israel has a wide range of targets inside Iran to choose from. Its targets could include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control centers, weaponry, and commanders themselves; missile factories and launch sites; air defense systems; naval ships; oil terminals and refineries; and even Iran’s nuclear sites. 

How Israel chooses to defend its own people is Israel’s decision alone

Israel could go after the IRGC and strike Iran’s missile facilities first, saving Iran’s economic and nuclear infrastructures for later depending on how Iran responds to the IDF’s initial retaliatory military actions. Or Israel could cast a wider net right away.

It has been one year since the horrific savagery that Hamas inflicted on Israel on October 7, 2023. More than one hundred hostages are still unaccounted for. Iran’s terrorist proxies, and now Iran itself, continue to bombard Israel and its civilian population with rockets, drones, and ballistic missiles. But the so-called “international community” blames Israel for the violence. It expects Israel to stop fighting against these monsters and to live with the existential threat they pose to the Jewish state.

Israel does not need advice from Secretary General Guterres, or President Joe Biden for that matter, on how to deal with this existential threat. How Israel chooses to defend its own people is Israel’s decision alone.

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