Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) spoke with foreign ambassadors to Israel on Thursday, holding a conference at the Maccabiah Village Hotel in the coastal city of Ramat Gan.
Hanegbi noted that while Israel is making "surgical attempts" to target terrorist leaders and warn civilians to get out of the line of fire in Operation Protective Edge, Hamas is committing a "double war crime" by firing on civilian population centers while hiding behind civilians.
The deputy minister noted how Hamas has been using human shields, placing civilians on the rooftops of terrorist headquarters ahead of airstrikes in order to inflate the death toll and deter strikes.
If their tactic is successful and Gaza residents are hurt, Hanegbi noted "Israel will be accused and criticized and slandered, and will not be able to go on for a long time" with the mission.
The blood of everyone killed in Israel and Gaza during the confrontation "is on their hands, they are committing a war crime," emphasized Hanegbi, adding that Israel are precisely the ones defending the lives of those living in Gaza by sending warnings and taking caution with the airstrikes.
Hanegbi concluded by saying that defending Israelis is "a sacred mission...our moral commitment. ...We will not hesitate to do whatever is necessary to win this confrontation."