UN Slams Israel For Intercepting Rockets During Ceasefire

New York, July 28 – After Israel announced it will abide by the terms of a US-proposed halt to a three-week-old Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Security Council denounced the Jewish State for nevertheless continuing to shoot down Hamas rockets aimed at Israeli communities.

The US and Britain also voted for the resolution, which called on Israel and Hamas to cease hostilities that began when Hamas began firing volleys of rockets into Israel. The Israeli offensive to root out the rocket fire expanded to include the destruction of tunnels through which Hamas attempted to attack within Israel, and the violence has so far claimed more than a thousand Palestinians and nearly 50 Israelis dead, including a large number of Palestinian civilians, who were caught in the crossfire as a result of Hamas embedding its positions and arsenals among the civilian population. Throughout the period, Hamas and allied armed groups in the Gaza Strip continued to launch thousands of rockets. Israel’s Iron Dome system intercepted the vast majority of the missiles directed at populated areas, and continued to operate against incoming Hamas rockets even after the announcement of the ceasefire.

US President Barack Obama joined the international community in condemning the Israeli use of its interception system, saying that the downing of the Kassam, Fajr-5, and M-75 rockets represents a gross violation of the terms of the ceasefire. “We support Israel’s right to defend itself, as we have maintained throughout this episode, but take exception to Israel actually defending itself,” said the president at a White House press conference Monday morning. In response to a reporter’s question about Hamas firing the rockets during the ceasefire, Obama repeated his statement.

It remains unclear what happens now that the Israeli offensive has been halted, but the IDF still holds the positions it captured within the Gaza Strip and continues to destroy the tunnels it has discovered, tunnels that, according to Israeli intelligence assessments, were intended to be used in a mass terror attack in September against southern communities. The Security Council voted to explicitly condemn those IDF actions, calling them, “a crude violation of Palestinian sovereignty.” Both Palestinian officials and many Security Council members understand that sovereignty to include the ability to kill Israelis.