Danon addresses security council: today
Danon addresses security council: todayUN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, reacted on Friday to the latest violent riots by Palestinian Arabs along the fence between Strip and Israel.

“Hamas is continuing to instigate violence against Israel as rioters today used firebombs and other means in attempts to damage the fence and infiltrate our sovereign territory. I call on all UN officials to condemn Hamas for encouraging violence, promoting instability and for the despicable act of exploiting women and children by placing them in harm’s way,” he said.

Some 3,000 Palestinian Arabs tried to approach the security infrastructure on Friday, burning tires and flying kites with firebombs attached to them.

The IDF said that a number of kites had crossed into Israeli territory and were extinguished as needed. IDF troops used riot dispersal methods and opened fire in accordance with the rules of engagement.

The riots, dubbed “the March of the Return” and openly encouraged by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, have been ongoing since March 30.

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas last week welcomed the marches, claiming they are a means of “peaceful resistance”.

Earlier on Friday, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, blasted Israel following the deaths of Palestinian Arab teens in the violent riots. He made no mention of the Arab violence.

“It is outrageous to shoot at children! How does the killing of a child in Gaza today help peace? It doesn’t! It fuels anger and breeds more killing. Children must be protected from violence, not exposed to it, not killed! This tragic incident must be investigated,” he wrote on Twitter.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)