UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres insisted his condemnation of Iran's missile strikes on Israel 'should've been obvious' - after Israel's foreign minister claimed he was 'barred' from entering the country - during a Security Council meeting in New York on Wednesday.

"As should have been obvious yesterday, in the context of the condemnation I expressed, I again strongly condemn yesterday's massive missile attacks by Iran on Israel, and these attacks paradoxically do nothing to support the cause of the Palestinian people or reduce their suffering," he stated.

Guterres added that it was 'absolutely essential to avoid an all-out war in Lebanon'.

Earlier Foreign Minister Israel Katz attacked Guterres, saying "anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil." The US State Department said the move was "not productive to improving its (Israel's) standing in the world."

Guterres had issued a statement following Iran's wave of strikes on Israel on Tuesday night, and hit out at the 'broadening of the Middle East conflict'.

Iran claimed the attacks on Israel were in response to the assassinations of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoshan in Lebanon, as well as the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran had made a 'big mistake' and warned of 'consequences'. On Tuesday, Israel also began a 'limited and targeted' ground incursion into Lebanon, following a week-long campaign of airstrikes in the south of the country.