Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s presence at the UN General Assembly, which he considered a "shame.”

‘It is truly a source of shame that a criminal (Netanyahu), who committed genocide in Palestine, can take his place under the roof of the UN. This is a betrayal of the memories of the babies, children, mothers, fathers, UN officials, journalists, and many others who have been brutally murdered,” Erdogan told reporters Wednesday at the Turkish House in New York.
Netanyahu departed for New York in the early hours of Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office said. The Israeli premier is expected to address the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on Friday, according to local media.
“The UN General Assembly will either treat the murderer (Netanyahu) as he deserves or this shameful situation will go down in UN history as a black mark,” he added.
The UN is in a position where it is unable to fulfill its mission to prevent wars, unable to protect even its own officials, and unable to hold Israel to account for killing them, Erdogan said.
He also stressed the UN has lost its functionality and become a structure that guards a system in which "might is right."
Israel has pounded Lebanon since Monday morning, killing at least 677 people and injuring over 2,500 others, according to figures released by the Health Ministry.
Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.
The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.