The U.S. Congress has been there for Israel right from the start, but perhaps that signature on the Iron Dome funding last Friday was inked after President Barack Obama had his arm twisted a little. It’s impossible to know.
Obama told reporters at the White House on Friday that he understood Israel’s need to defend itself; and literally the day after, Hamas terrorists fired 11 shells at Israel from a mortar positioned right next to another UNRWA boys’ elementary school, this one in the Zeitoun section of Gaza City.
Nevertheless, Obama’s representative to the United Nations on Sunday conveyed an entirely different message to the rest of the world.
In a statement regarding Israeli gunfire aimed at Hamas terrorists next to an UNRWA school in southern Gaza, the U.S. Mission to the UN completely betrayed its ally.
The IAF air strike referred to in the current U.S. complaint came in response to mortar fire aimed by Hamas terrorists standing around the gate of an UNRWA boys’ elementary school in the border town of Rafah – who then fled on a motorcycle, taking care to drive as close as possible to civilians along the wall of the school.
The missile fired by the Israeli pilot targeting the terrorists – who were firing at Israeli soldiers on the ground at the time – didn’t miss. It hit the terrorists. But the large explosion predictably also killed the civilians who were standing nearby – precisely as Hamas planned and hoped, creating another gory photo op for the anti-Semitic world to feed on. And feed they did, egged on by the United Nations itself, and sadly, even by Israel’s ally.
Here’s the statement submitted from the U.S.:
“Today’s strike outside an UNRWA school in Rafah, where an estimated 3,000 people were taking shelter, is horrifying. This incident, which took the lives of at least ten Palestinians, including one UNRWA staff member, and injured many more, is only the latest in a conflict that has left dead approximately 1,750 people, including 11 UN staff, and injured many thousands more. Additionally, the UN estimates as many as 475,000 people have been displaced by the violence, of whom more than 259,000 are sheltering in 90 UNRWA schools, which are not equipped as shelters. It is imperative that all sides work towards a ceasefire that ends the rocket attacks and tunnel threat from Hamas, and the perilous situation faced by civilians in Gaza.
“We call on all parties to take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian casualties, comply with international humanitarian law and respect UN facilities in Gaza. We further call on Israel to conduct a full and prompt investigation of this incident as well as the recent strikes that hit other UNRWA schools. Civilians, many of whom have been told to evacuate their homes by the Israel Defense Forces, must be able to find refuge in safe, UN-designated shelters.”
Sound like an ally? Hamas is officially recognized as an international terrorist organization on the U.S. State Department’s own list of terror entities – but one would never know that from reading this statement, which makes it seem as though Hamas is the wronged party, and a legitimate entity to boot.
What’s wrong with the Obama administration?