WarSclerotic

Iran’s supreme leader says destruction of Jewish state is ‘possible and will happen,’ slams ‘traitorous countries’ for not defending Palestinians

June 4, 2018   ti

Latest News from Israel

The Trump Administration has been very tolerant regarding the building of new homes for Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Will the current building plan cause Washington to object?

BY: David Rutz Follow @DavidRutz
May 30, 2018 5:24 pm

Haley Rips Security Council’s ‘Outrageous’ Failure to Condemn Hamas for Rocket Attacks: ‘Height of Hypocrisy’

Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tore into the U.N. Security Council Wednesday for failing to condemn Hamas rocket attacks against Israel, calling it “outrageous” and “the height of hypocrisy.”

The U.S. called for an emergency session of the Security Council following Tuesday’s rocket attacks against Israel by Hamas, the Islamist terror group governing the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said Hamas fired 70 rockets and mortars into Israel; one mortar hit a kindergarten yard. Israel responded with airstrikes on 35 Gaza targets.

Kuwait, a non-member state, blocked the attempt by the U.S. to have the Security Council condemn Hamas.

“It is outrageous for the Security Council to fail to condemn Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, while the Human Rights Council approves sending a team to investigate Israeli actions taken in self-defense,” Haley said. “I urge the members of the Security Council to exercise at least as much scrutiny of the Hamas terrorist group as it does to Israel’s legitimate right of self-defense.”

To ignore Hamas’ actions and expect Israel to sit on its hands while being attacked, Haley said, was “the height of hypocrisy.”

“As I have asked my colleagues before, I will ask you again today: Who among us would accept 70 rockets launched into your country?” Haley said. “We all know the answer to that. No one would.”

As she has done previously, Haley called out the U.N. for what she often describes as a clear double standard regarding Israel.

“You might think that the rest of the Security Council would join us in condemning a terrorist organization like Hamas,” Haley said. “There shouldn’t be any debate about this, but of course, because this attack is about Israel, the standard is different.”

“Apparently, some council members did not think Hamas launching rockets qualified as terrorism,” she added. “The United States begs to differ.”

Haley also forcefully defended Israel on May 15 following its response to violent riots in Gaza and attempts to breach the border, saying no country in the chamber would have acted with more restraint.

Haley called Hamas’ rocket fire on Tuesday “indiscriminate,” noting there were several injured in Israel but thankfully no deaths.

“The horrifying damage that could have been done is unthinkable,” she said.

Haley called Hamas’ attacks a clear escalation of violence with the obvious desire to cause maximum civilian casualties. The organization’s stated purpose of Israel’s destruction is clear, she said, with its rocket attacks, construction of terror tunnels and incitement of violence at the border, the latter to provoke a response from Israel and bring about a predictable international outrage.

“Hamas’ actions prove the falsehood of the idea that the people of Gaza require international protection,” Haley said. “The people of Gaza do not need protection from an external source. The people of Gaza need protection from Hamas.”

Kuwait says its resolution calling for protection of Palestinians is more relevant than US draft on rocket attacks; Haley calls failure to condemn ‘outrageous’

By Eric Cortellessa and AFP

Today, 12:37 am

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-blasts-security-council-as-measure-condemning-hamas-blocked/

WASHINGTON — US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley castigated the Security Council on Wednesday for failing to collectively condemn rocket attacks on Israel, accusing the international body of bias weeks after another UN panel backed a probe into Israeli actions on the Gaza border.

Kuwait, a non-permanent council member that represents Arab countries, blocked a US-drafted statement at the council meeting Wednesday, arguing that it had presented its own draft resolution that addressed the crisis.

WASHINGTON — US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley castigated the Security Council on Wednesday for failing to collectively condemn rocket attacks on Israel, accusing the international body of bias weeks after another UN panel backed a probe into Israeli actions on the Gaza border.

Kuwait, a non-permanent council member that represents Arab countries, blocked a US-drafted statement at the council meeting Wednesday, arguing that it had presented its own draft resolution that addressed the crisis.

“It is outrageous for the Security Council to fail to condemn Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli citizens while the Human Rights Council approves sending a team to investigate Israeli actions taken in self-defense,” Haley said before the council meeting called to discuss the flare-up on the Gaza border.

WASHINGTON — US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley castigated the Security Council on Wednesday for failing to collectively condemn rocket attacks on Israel, accusing the international body of bias weeks after another UN panel backed a probe into Israeli actions on the Gaza border.

Kuwait, a non-permanent council member that represents Arab countries, blocked a US-drafted statement at the council meeting Wednesday, arguing that it had presented its own draft resolution that addressed the crisis.

“It is outrageous for the Security Council to fail to condemn Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli citizens while the Human Rights Council approves sending a team to investigate Israeli actions taken in self-defense,” Haley said before the council meeting called to discuss the flare-up on the Gaza border.

“I urge the members of the Security Council to exercise at least as much scrutiny of the actions of the Hamas terrorist group as it does Israel’s legitimate right of self-defense.”

Her remarks followed the most serious flare-up between Israel and Gaza-based terrorists since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Crater outside home near Gaza border caused by rocket fired from coastal enclave on May 30, 2018. (Screen capture: Hadashot news/Eshkol Regional Council)

On Tuesday, the Gaza-based Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups launched more than 70 rockets and mortar shells at Israel, prompting dozens of retaliatory airstrikes. Four Israelis were hurt, including a soldier who suffered moderate injuries, and projectiles caused damage to a kindergarten yard an hour before the children arrived, and to a home as a family slept in a fortified room inside.

Kuwait is pushing for a vote at the council this week on its draft resolution calling for “the consideration of measures” for the protection of Palestinian civilians, according to the text obtained by AFP.

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes on Gaza City, early Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired at least 50 rockets and mortars into southern Israel on Tuesday, the largest barrage since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The United States, which has veto power in the council, will oppose the measure, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters.

“The people of Gaza do not need protection from an external source. The people of Gaza need protection from Hamas,” Haley said.

The US called the emergency meeting Tuesday evening, though by Wednesday night a tense calm appeared to hold in the Strip following reported mediation efforts by Egypt.

In a briefing with reporters before the meeting, Danon warned that Israel would respond to any future attacks with whatever force needed to protect its people from terrorism.

“If Israeli children are not allowed to sleep quietly at night, then the terrorists of Gaza will feel the might of the IDF,” he said. “We will not allow anyone to harm our citizens and we will do all that is necessary to defend them.”

Tuesday’s violence was the most serious escalation since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas and followed weeks of Palestinian protests in which more than 100 Palestinians have been shot and killed by Israeli forces. Israel says a majority of those killed were from terror groups and that it was acting to defend its border from violent protesters and terror operatives seeking to infiltrate the country to carry out attacks or damage the fence. Hamas has acknowledged more than 50 of the fatalities were its members.

Earlier this month, the UN’s Human Rights Council passed a resolution urging a probe into Israeli actions on the border during the protests, angering Israel and the US, which have accused the body of being one-sided.

Palestinians burn tires along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, east of Khan Younis, on May 25, 2018. (AFP Photo/Said Khatib)

At the Security Council meeting, the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process warned that the day of fighting showed how close the region was to another war.

“This latest round of attacks is a warning to all of how close to the brink of war we are every day,” said Mladenov, who spoke via video link from Jerusalem.

“No one in Gaza can afford another war,” said Mladenov.

With the council deadlocked, France warned that the failure to agree on a response to the Gaza crisis was damaging to the United Nations.

“This increasingly heavy silence, which is becoming deafening, is not acceptable,” said French Ambassador Francois Delattre.

“It is not acceptable for the Palestinian and Israeli populations, who are affected by this conflict. It is not acceptable for the world that is watching us,” he said.

Flames from rockets fired by Palestinians are seen over Gaza Strip heading toward Israel, in the early morning of May 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Haley expressed frustration that the council could not agree on condemning the rocket attacks on Israel, and accused Hamas of trying to goad the Israelis into a response.

“Unlike some situations we deal with here in the Security Council, we’re guilty parties claim mistaken identity, or lack of evidence of responsibility, this is clearly not the case,” she said. “Hamas openly claims responsibility for this attack. They do so proudly. Their only regret is that the attack did not kill anyone.”

“The Security Council has always been quick to pounce on Israel, regardless of the facts or the circumstances,” Haley added. “I am very interested in how my colleagues respond when the attacks are directly against Israel.”

IDF attacks terrorist targets in Gaza hours after barrage of 80 rockets and mortars.

16 Sivan 5778 – May 29, 2018

3 IDF Soldiers Wounded in Gaza Rocket, Mortar Attacks on Southern Israel

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Three people were wounded on Tuesday afternoon in another barrage of rockets and mortar shells fired at southern Israel by Gaza terrorists.

The victims, all residents of the Eshkol Regional Council district, suffered shrapnel wounds. They were evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva with injuries to head and limbs. One is reported in fair condition; the other two are reported in good condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Three people in Sderot were hurt while running to a bomb shelter, and a third was hospitalized with a severe anxiety attack. They were taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.

Earlier in the day, gardener Eyal Iraqi sustained shrapnel wounds when he was caught out in the field during a mortar attack. He told reporters he dropped to the ground, flat, as instructed when the shells began exploding around him, but one landed just a few meters away. “It’s all good,” he said, counting himself fortunate for having survived. He was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.

Dozens of Red Alert sirens blared through the communities of the central and western Negev, as well as the Gaza Belt region and coastal Ashkelon.

A mortar shell exploded in the yard of a Sderot kindergarten less than an hour before the children were to arrive; nevertheless, classes began on time, with the small students in their seats when they did.

President Reuven Rivlin called the children and spoke with them by speaker phone, wishing them a “calm day” and inviting them all to visit him at the presidential residence in Jerusalem. “What a magical person,” the teacher told reporters.

The IDF reportedly targeted both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets throughout the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s National Security Advisor to meet US counterpart in Washington to sign MOU on Iran as administration ups pressure on regime.

Latest News from Israel

Putin’s government is open to Israel’s demand that the Islamic Republic be distanced from the Syrian border with the Israeli Golan Heights. 

By: World Israel News Staff

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hinted Monday that Iranian forces should be kept far from Israel’s frontiers.

Though he did not mention Iran specifically, Lavrov said that only the Syrian regime should field military forces in the country’s southern border areas, Reuters reported citing the state-operated RIA news agency.

“Of course, the withdrawal of all non-Syrian forces must be carried out on a mutual basis, this should be a two-way street,” Lavrov said at a joint news conference in Moscow with Jose Condungua Pacheco, his counterpart from Mozambique.

“The result of this work which should continue and is continuing should be a situation when representatives of the Syrian Arab Republic’s army stand at Syria’s border with Israel,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov’s comments apparently referred to areas including the Syrian  Golan Heights region abutting the Israeli Golan Heights and the border with Jordan and indicated that Russia was open to Israeli demands that Iranian forces should be kept far from Israel’s borders.

The area is currently held by various rebel groups and Israel has accused Iran of trying to establish a presence in the area. Israel also accused Iran of firing a salvo of rockets at Israel from the area earlier in the month.