Israeli ambassador blasts UN for failing to stop Gaza rockets

By ICEJ News

23 Mar 2010

Aharon Leshno Yaar, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, accused the UN Human Rights Council on Monday of denying Israel the right to self-defense against the decade-long barrage of rocket attacks by Gaza terror militias against Israeli citizens residing in the western Negev. "You have done nothing about it, and you expect that Israel does nothing either," said Yaar. He noted that even South African jurist Richard Goldstone had stated that "the firing of these rockets are war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity." Yaar spoke during a Council debate on Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza. Since the end of the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead on January 18, 2009, over 325 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel from Ga za, an average of nearly one per day. Last week saw a jump in rocket strikes, including one that killed a Thai farm worker. The UNHRC is expected to approve four resolutions later this week that include affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination, creating a new committee to monitor Israeli-Palestinian cooperation with the Goldstone report, and other resolutions that accuse Israel of human rights abuses against Palestinians and condemn Israel for continued settlement construction.

Print    Tell a friend