Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, sent a strong letter of complaint to the UN Secretary General and to the Security Council on Wednesday evening, in which he called for the international body to condemn the continuing rocket fire from Gaza.
Prosor’s letter was sent after Gaza-based terrorists fired more than 80 rockets at southern Israel between Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon.
Three people were wounded, two of them seriously, and three homes were hit in the morning rocket barrage.
“The purpose for the rocket fire is to kill Israeli civilians in order to escalate the situation in the region and bring a confrontation,” Prosor wrote.
“The continued silence of the Security Council is a green light for further terrorist activities by Hamas,” he added. “The daily lives of a million Israelis are paralyzed. Parents do not go to work and children do not go to school. The barrage of rockets just keeps growing and causes damage to life and property. This situation must stop.”
Prosor warned in a letter that “Israel will continue to exercise its right to self-defense and will take all necessary measures to protect its citizens.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Gaza terrorists earlier on Wednesday that if the rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel do not stop, “deeper activity” in the region lies ahead.
“We did not start this recent escalation,” the prime minister pointed out, “but if it continues, we are prepared to go ahead with much wider and deeper military operations,” he said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed to “return the quiet to the south” on Wednesday morning. He said in an interview on Army Radio that the army is considering how best to silence the attacks.
He added, however, that a full-scale military operation such as the three-week Operation Cast Lead mini-war carried out in the winter of 2008-2009 is unlikely at this time. Asked whether negotiations with Hamas might be productive, the defense minister replied the terrorist organization is an enemy with whom Israel cannot communicate.
