Senior Hamas official Ismail al-Ashqar will address the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, an official statement said.

Al-Ashqar arrived in Switzerland on Sunday ahead of the appearance, which will focus on the issue of Hamas members being held in Israeli jails, the statement added.

Blogger Elder of Zion noted that al-Ashqar has publicly called for Hamas to kidnap Israeli soldiers – an act that constitutes a war crime.

In another statement, al-Ashqar said that “Jerusalem cannot be liberated through negotiations or dialogue … resistance and Jihad is the only way to liberate Jerusalem from the dirt of the Zionist occupation.”

MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said Sunday that al-Ashkar’s invitation is “a mark of shame to an organization that attempts to create an image of caring for human rights.”

“This is a new record for the global anti-Semitic lie industry,” she added. “Hamas, who fire rockets at the homes of innocent civilians, are received with open arms by the same organization that always denounces Israel’s actions.”