Before Tuesday’s UN Security Council debate on the escalation in southern Israel, Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, addressed the media.
"Every time Hamas shoots a rocket - children at school, adults at work, families all over the country hear this," Danon said to the sound of the "Red Alert" air raid siren playing from a phone.
"Think of the children running fearfully into bomb shelters," he continued.
"Certain morally bankrupt members of the Security Council will jump to blame Israel, and others who pretend to be objective will call for restraint on both sides. But let me be clear: there is no 'both sides'. There is Hamas that attacks and fires over 460 missiles at civilians, and there is Israel that protects its people. The Security Council must condemn Hamas for its aggressive assault and finally designate it as a terrorist organization," the ambassador added.
On Monday, Danon called on the Security Council to condemn the firing of hundreds of rockets from Gaza at Israel.
In a letter to the Council's members, the ambassador noted that "after a day of rocket barrages, there is no room for any other definition of Hamas except that of terrorist organization. To the world it presents its civilians as victims, but then uses them as human shields."
Danon added that "Israel cooperated with all international bodies, including the UN, but the aggressive escalation from Gaza indicates that there are elements pushing for another round of violence that will cause destruction and losses within the Gaza Strip."