The Israeli Cabinet, united in support of the IDF mission in Gaza, is reeling from demands by both the UN Security Council and the US administration for an immediate ceasefire in the war against Hamas terror.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at press conference Friday, vows to destroy Hamas. (Photo: Haim Zach/Flash90) Kolomoisky/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday slammed the United Nations Security Council statement made demanding a ceasefire with Hamas.
The 15-member body earlier that day expressed “grave concern” regarding the “loss of civilian lives and casualties and called for an “immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire.”
Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization. It rejected several ceasefires that Israel had accepted, continues to bombard Israel full force with rockets and uses innocent civilians in Gaza as human shields.
The IDF, on the other hand, when targeting terrorist infrastructure, issues warnings to civilians to flee.
The Security Council resolution nonetheless does not seem to differentiate between Israel and Hamas and “emphasizes that civilian and humanitarian facilities, including those of the UN, must be respected and protected, and called on all parties to act consistently with this principle.”
The 15-member body “urges the parties and the international community to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders as envisioned in Security Council resolution 1850.”
All 15 Security Council members were in favor of the statement.
Israel Determined to Defeat Hamas Terror
During Operation Protective Edge, the IDF uncovered dozens of terror tunnels built by Hamas in order to sneak into Israeli territory to slaughter and kidnap innocent civilians. According to a recent poll, 85.6 percent of Israelis are against a withdrawal until the current mission to destroy Hamas terror infrastructure is completed.
Hamas fires rockets last week after ceasefire officially begins. (Photo: Flash90)
“The Security Council Presidential Statement relates to the needs of a murderous terrorist organization that is attacking Israeli civilians and does not address Israel’s security needs, including the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip according to the principle laid down in the interim agreements with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu declared. “The statement does not refer to attacks on Israeli civilians, or to the fact that Hamas has turned the residents of Gaza into human shields and uses UN facilities to attack Israeli civilians.”
“Israel accepted three UN proposals for humanitarian truces, and Hamas violated them all,” Netanyahu said. “Even now they are continuing to fire at Israeli civilians. Israel will continue to deal with the terrorist tunnels, and this is only the first step in the demilitarization. Instead of the funds of the international community serving the construction of terrorist tunnels for perpetrating large-scale attacks against Israeli civilians, the international community needs to act toward the demilitarization of Gaza.”
Israelis Fuming at Kerry and Obama
Israeli lawmakers across the political spectrum, except for the extreme left, were fuming at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama for their efforts to bring about a deal that seems to favor Hamas and fails to take Israel’s security needs into consideration. Kerry was in the region last week, attempting to broker an agreement, and Obama phoned Netanyahu on Sunday to demand an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
“Building on Secretary Kerry’s efforts, the President made clear the strategic imperative of instituting an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities,” according to a White House statement.
Author: Atara Beck
Senior Writer/Editor, United with Israel