The Israeli occupation declaring United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as "persona non grata" is a "political statement" as part of a broader trend of attacks on UN personnel by the Israeli regime, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday. 

Speaking at a press briefing, Dujarric expressed the UN's concern over the Israeli decision, "We saw this announcement this morning, which we see as a political statement by the foreign minister and just one more attack, so to speak, on UN staff that we've seen from the government of Israel."

Despite the Israeli occupation's declaration, Dujarric reaffirmed that the UN would continue its operational and other level contacts with "Israel", emphasizing that the organization would not let this decision hinder its diplomatic or humanitarian efforts.

The Israeli government took the unprecedented step of barring Guterres from entering the country following his perceived failure to "unequivocally condemn" what it referred to as "serious aggression" from Iran.

On Tuesday night, Iran launched Operation True Promise 2 in response to the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian IRGC General Abbas Nilforoushian.

Approximately 90% of the missiles successfully struck their targets in Israeli-occupied territories, the IRGC reported, adding that three military bases and a security site were successfully targeted.

The IRGC released a statement warning "Israel", "If the Zionist regime retaliates to the Iranian operation, it will face violent consequences."

'Broadening conflict'

In response to the escalations, Guterres had condemned the "broadening of the Middle East conflict" and reiterated his call for a ceasefire, but stopped short of specifically denouncing Iran, which particularly angered the Israeli occupation.

In a related context, the United Nations voiced deep concern on Monday over the deteriorating situation in Lebanon as Israeli attacks intensify, underscoring its opposition to "Israel's" reported plans for a ground invasion of the country.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “remains deeply concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the events that are unfolding in Lebanon," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a press briefing.

Dujarric emphasized Guterres' call for all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to pursue de-escalation while highlighting the importance of enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701.