In advance of a closed emergency United Nations Security Council meeting, called by Kuwait and Bolivia, on the latest barrage of rockets fired by Hamas into Israel, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon had a message for the world: There is no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
“Every time Hamas shoots a rocket, children at school, adults at work, families all over the country hear this,” Danon said, as he then played the sound of the Red Alert air-raid siren from a phone in front of the media. “Think of the children running fearfully into bomb shelters.”
“There is Hamas that attacks and fires over 460 missiles at civilians, and there is Israel that protects its people,” he added. “The Security Council must condemn Hamas for its aggressive assault and finally designate it as a terrorist organization.”
The United States and France have condemned the latest round of violence coming from Hamas in Gaza.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the rocket, missile and mortar attacks that are taking place from Gaza into Israel,” said U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. “We call for the sustained halt of those attacks. We stand with Israel as Israel defends itself against these attacks. It is simply unacceptable to target civilians.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said he has “strongly condemned the numerous rockets fired by Hamas” on Israel and called on the parties “to avoid escalation and a new cycle of deadly violence,” in a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to his office.