Hamas on Monday blasted United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his statement condemning the rocket attacks on southern Israel.
Guterres said in a statement published on Sunday that he "condemns in the strongest terms the launching of rockets from Gaza into Israel, particularly the targeting of civilian population centers. He urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint, immediately de-escalate and return to the understandings of the past few months."
The Gaza-based terrorist group claimed that Guterres’ statement reflected “a bias towards the Israeli position and in support of Israel's aggressive position", according to i24NEWS.
Hamas "expressed its shock at the statement's omission of crimes committed on Friday, May 3rd by killing children and peaceful demonstrators participating in the return marches, followed by the assassination of two others, which called for a response to the resistance forces against the aggression."
By responding with rocket fire to the death of its members on Friday, Hamas claimed they did not initiate the latest round of escalation, but were acting in self-defense.
Hamas further added that the UN statement "ignored the occupation's killing of 28 citizens (mostly civilians)--wounding of more than 200, and the destruction of more than 500 houses and a civilian facility."
Furthermore, Hamas said the UN statement "ignored the procrastination of the occupation over the past months in implementing the commitments made by the final understandings mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the UN, and instead continued to impose an unjust siege for more than 12 years on 2 million Palestinians."
Gaza terrorists fired some 700 rockets at southern Israel between Saturday morning and early Monday morning.
One person was killed on Sunday evening after nearly three dozen rockets were fired at southern Israel from Hamas-ruled Gaza during a period of several hours.
On Saturday, 58-year-old Ashkelon resident Moshe Agadi was killed when a rocket landed in a residential area.
On Sunday, two people were killed when a rocket struck a factory in Ashkelon. A man in his early 60s was killed later on Sunday after a Kornet anti-tank missile was fired from the Gaza Strip at his car in southern Israel.
