Israeli UN Envoy Urges Security Council to Reject ‘Dangerous’ Anti-Israel Resolution

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks to reporters outside the Secu
AP/Mary Altaffer

TEL AVIV – Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon urged member countries of the UN Security Council to reject Kuwait’s “dangerous” resolution condemning Israel over its response to violent riots in the Gaza Strip ahead of a vote later this week.

“Kuwait’s dangerous draft resolution only reinforces Hamas’ terror regime that oppresses and threatens the residents of Gaza and the security of Israeli citizens,” Danon said. “Do not lend a hand to support Hamas’ terrorism.”

“If the Council seeks to protect the residents of Gaza, it must take steps against Hamas’ war crimes and not reward the organization’s cycle of bloodshed,” he said.

Kuwait, which is the council’s Arab representative, said Israel should be condemned “in the strongest terms” and “immediately cease its military reprisals, collective punishment and unlawful use of force against civilians, including in the Gaza Strip.”

The draft also called for an international force to be charged with overseeing the coastal enclave.

The U.S. will likely exercise its veto on the resolution if it comes to a vote.

Hamas on Wednesday admitted that 50 of the 62 Palestinians who died on Monday during riots on Israel’s border with Gaza were its members. Palestinian Islamic Jihad said three others belonged to the organization.

Kuwait’s draft calls for “the full lifting of the blockade and the restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip” including “the immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing points” to allow humanitarian aid, commercial goods and people to enter and leave in accordance with international law.

The rioters last week destroyed the Kerem Shalom crossing which is mainly used to bring humanitarian goods into the Strip.

Gaza is under a security blockade imposed by Israel on one side and Egypt on the other. Hamas’ charter includes a call for the genocide of the Jews.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman refused to cooperate with a call for an independent investigation into the Gaza riots from the UN Human Rights Council, charging the council with being a “cheerleader for terrorists.”

The council slammed “the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians.”

Liberman tweeted that “the only investigation that needs to be set up is into how the Human Rights Council became a cheerleader for terrorists.”

The council voted for the inquiry 29 in favor and two against with 14 countries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the vote and the council as “irrelevant.”

“The organization that calls itself the Human Rights Council again proved it is a hypocritical and biased body whose purpose is to harm Israel and back terror, but mostly it proved it is irrelevant,” he added.

“The State of Israel will continue to defend its citizens and soldiers,” he said.

Hamas officials have admitted that the notion of peaceful, civilian-led protests is a farce. Last week co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahhar told Al Jazeera that the term “peaceful resistance” was coined to “deceive the public.”

Women and children were called to the front lines as human shields with the promise that the Israeli “army won’t kill them.” The riots included swastika-emblazoned bomb-carrying kites, knives, Molotov cocktails, explosive devices, guns and terrorists storming the border with the express intent of “liberating Palestine.”

Gazans were also encouraged to bring weapons to the riots, but were told it was preferable to capture Israelis rather than kill them since Israel will do anything to rescue one of their own.

 

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