JERAUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke yesterday evening (Jul. 9) with several world leaders, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Secretary of State John Kerry regarding Operation ‘Protective Edge’ and its implications. Prime Minister Netanyahu said in his conversations that no country in the world would agree to suffer relentless missile attacks and infiltration attempts by sea and via terror tunnels. Hamas is perpetrating a double war crime by deliberately trying to attack Israeli civilians while using the civilian population in Gaza as human shields, Netanyahu told them. Netanyahu placed the blame for civilian casualties in Gaza on Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu added that Hamas is known throughout the world as a terrorist organization and said that the international community must strongly condemn the continual firing by Hamas and the other terrorist organizations at Israeli cities.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to convene later today to discuss the situation in Israel.
Netanyahu reported that his conversations were effective: “Today I spoke with several world leaders. I appreciated their expressions of strong support for our right and our duty to defend ourselves, and this is what we will continue to do.”
Netanyahu will speak with additional world leaders in the coming days. PM Netanyahu has further issued a statement to the international community, stating: “Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza are firing rockets on cities throughout the State of Israel – on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheba, Sderot and other cities in Israel. No country on earth would remain passive in the face of hundreds of rockets fired on its cities and Israel is no exception.”
“Today we expanded our operations against Hamas and the other terrorist groups in Gaza. We will continue to protect our civilians against Hamas attacks on them. Hamas, by contrast, is deliberately putting Palestinian civilians into harm’s way. It embeds its terrorists in hospitals, schools, mosques and apartment buildings throughout the Gaza Strip. Hamas is thus committing a double war crime: It targets Israeli civilians, while hiding behind Palestinian civilians. This operation could take time. We are resolved to defend our families and our homes.”