Israel-Gaza War: Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, lashed out at the United Nations Security Council for failing to condemn the surprise attack launched by the militant group Hamas on Israel on October 7 and the killing of unarmed civilians.
Addressing a meeting of the UN Security Council, the Israeli envoy urged the UNSC to invite him to share a screening of the footage from Hamas's slaughtering of civilians on October 7. He said the footage was captured by the terrorists themselves. He added, "Once you see the barbarity and savagery with your own eyes, you will understand the evil that Israel is defending itself against." He said Hamas, over the past 16 years, has turned "every inch of Gaza into a terror trap," as quoted by news agency ANI.
Erdan had invited Hamas co-founder's son, Mosab Hassan Yousef, to the UNSC meeting, adding that Yousef sat behind the Israeli envoy during the meeting on Friday afternoon, ANI reported, citing Fox News.
"Over the past 16 years, Hamas has turned every inch of Gaza into a terror trap. Nothing is sacred to these jihadist Nazis; every medical worker, doctor, and patient in Gaza is a human shield for the Hamas terrorists. It is a war crime of epic proportions will this be the focus of today's meeting? How can we possibly hold a briefing on the medical situation in Gaza without making this the primary issue of this meeting?" Erdan said, as quoted by ANI. He further stated that Israel has asked all civilians to temporarily evacuate northern Gaza and move to the south.
Erdan said Hamas was trying to stop civilians from leaving the active war zone. He added that Israel was making an effort to keep civilian casualties in the ongoing ground operations to a minimum.
"Israel is providing safe passage for Gazan civilians to leave an active war zone, while Hamas is actively working to prevent civilians from leaving. In footage that surfaced today, Gazan civilians were waving white flags as they tried to leave Al Nasr Hospital, yet they were forced to stay after Hamas opened fire on them," he said, as quoted by ANI.
"Israel is at war with Hamas, and we have gone above and beyond to mitigate civilian casualties. For Israel, life is sacred, but for Hamas, death is sacred, particularly civilian deaths," he added.
During his address on the prevailing state of affairs in West Asia in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks and the ongoing ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli envoy invoked the Kristallnacht Holocaust of 1938, which saw anti-Semitic violence being perpetrated on the Jewish communities of Germany and Austria.
"The holy Jewish Sabbath is a day of peace and rest. It is the day on which God rested following the creation of the world, yet no Jew will ever forget the Sabbath of October 7th. It has been seared into the collective trauma of the Jewish people forever. Exactly 85 years ago, today, another traumatic atrocity was burned into the Jewish people's history. Between November 9th and 10th, 1938, the Jewish communities of Germany and Austria suffered Kristallnacht, the Nazis November pogrom, which was the first hyperviolent exposure of the Nazis murderous Jew hatred," Erdan said at the UNSC meeting, as quoted by ANI.
"Nearly 100 Jews were murdered; thousands of Jewish homes, hospitals, schools, houses of worship, and businesses were ransacked and burned to the ground. Israelis endured another such pogram five weeks ago, yet here we are 34 days later, and this Council still has not condemned Hamas's heinous planned massacre of Israeli civilians. Had this Council in its current form existed in 1938, I doubt that the response would be much different," he added.