UN Secretary General António Guterres has imposed an entry ban on Israel in the dispute over Iran

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was banned from entering Israel over his response to Iranian rocket fire.

In a statement, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Guterres an “anti-Israel secretary general who supports terrorists.”

After Iran fired about 180 rockets at Israel, Guterres wrote on the social media site

He said the region “absolutely” needs a ceasefire, but did not specifically mention the Iran attack.

In a statement on Wednesday, Katz declared the U.N. secretary general persona non grata and said anyone who “cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil.”

He particularly criticized Guterres for “his anti-Israel policies since the beginning of the war.”

Iran's attack on Tuesday is the latest in a series of escalations that began nearly a year ago with Hamas attacks on Israel and recently led to increased fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.

In response to the unprecedented attack on southern Israel by Hamas gunmen on October 7, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

A total of 41,689 people have been killed in a military operation in Gaza since the attack, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

During the course of the conflict, there were several clashes between Israel and the United Nations over the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

There have also been tensions between Israel and the United Nations over the role of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

In January, Israel claimed that several agency employees were involved in the October 7 attacks.

In response, the agency launched an investigation – some of its international donors withdrew their support before later reinstating it. Nine employees were laid off in August about possible involvement in the attacks.

During the conflict, UNRWA has criticized Israel for airstrikes in Gaza who killed their employees.