US envoy decries UN's 'different standard' toward Israel
Comments come as Security Council convenes to discuss sustained barrage of rockets and mortars fired into south Israel throughout Tuesday, leaving 3 IDF soldiers wounded and triggering a wide scale IDF response; Haley condemns Hamas’s ‘dangerous and destructive activities.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed the “the dangerous and destructive activities” of the Hamas terror group in Gaza on Wednesday afternoon during remarks made at a UN Security Council, during which she also accused its members of a “different” standard.
The Security Council met at the behest of the United States to discuss Tuesday’s Gaza mortar and rocket attacks on south Israel, which left 3 soldiers wounded, prompting an IDF military response.
Speaking after the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, Haley said that a unanimous condemnation by the council would have been in order, but was not forthcoming because the attacks were launched on Israel.
“You might think that the rest of the Security Council would join us in condemning a terrorist organization like Hamas. There shouldn’t be any debate about this. But of course, because this attack involves Israel, the standard is different,” she said in her opening remarks.
The United States, she said, drafted a Security Council statement that would have condemned Hamas for launching rockets and endangering civilians.
“This should have been a no brainer. You would think no one would want to side with Hamas when it comes to condemning rocket launches but the statement was blocked,” Haley added.
She also bemoaned that fact that a meeting under the agenda items entitled “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts” was blocked.
“Apparently some Security Council members did not think that Hamas launching rockets qualifies as terrorism. The United States begs to differ,” she said.
"As I have asked my colleagues before, I will ask you again today. Who among us would accept 70 rockets launched into your country? We all know the answer to that. No one would,” she continued, adding that the indiscriminate nature of the rocket fire demonstrated the intention to inflict carnage on Israeli communities.
“The mere fact that one of the rockets landed on a kindergarten playground is all the proof we need of the intentions of the terrorist … Hamas openly claims responsibility for this attack. They do so proudly. Their only regret is that the attack did not kill anyone,” Haley said.
The ambassador also pointed the finger at the Security Council, accusing it of always being “quick to pounce on Israel, regardless of the facts and the circumstances.”
But the facts proved, she continued, that Hamas’s sole aim remains the destruction of Israel.
“Hamas’s stated purpose is the destruction of Israel. That is its purpose when it fires rockets into Israel, that is its purpose when it builds terror tunnels underneath Israeli territory and that is its purpose when it orchestrates violent protests and riots at the boundary fence calling for a march of return," she told the Security Council members.
