Hamas committing war crimes, Netanyahu says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to ask for their support for Israel’s Operation Protective Edge.

No country in the world would agree to be under constant rocket fire and have terrorists infiltrate their territory via the sea and through tunnels, Netanyahu tells the leaders, according to a statement released by his office.

“Hamas is committing a double war crime when it tries to hurt Israeli civilians and utilizes the Gazan civilian population as a human shield,” Netanyahu says. Therefore, Hamas is responsible for their own civilian casualties, he tells the foreign leaders.

Hamas is recognized as a terrorist group, “and thus it is upon the international community to forcefully condemn the ongoing rocket fire on Israeli cities by Hamas and other terrorist organizations,” Netanyahu says.

In coming days, Netanyahu plans similar conversations with additional world leaders.

Tomorrow, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman is scheduled to give a briefing about the military operation to foreign ambassadors serving in Israel. His spokesman, Tzachi Moshe, refuses to say whether Liberman has spoken to any of his counterparts in foreign capitals since the operation started.

— Raphael Ahren