Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Gilad Erdan, on Wednesday accused Hamas of committing dual war crimes amid the rocket attacks from Gaza.

“I grew up in the city of Ashkelon, it’s a city that has been severely bombarded in the last few days. My parents still live there and I have to get in touch with them every few hours in order to make sure that they got to a safe shelter whenever they heard the siren. That is the reality that millions of people in Israel are facing now,” Erdan told CNN in an interview.

He added that he was on the phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.

“I was very very pleased to hear the strong commitment of President Biden to Israel’s right to defend itself and to the safety and security of the people of Israel. That’s what I heard in that conversation,” said the Israeli Ambassador.

On the Israeli attacks in Gaza, Erdan said, “Right now our goal is to make Hamas stop trying to terrorize and to murder our citizens. They deliberately launched thousands of rockets and missiles at our cities and we have to restore our deterrence in a way that they will understand that this vicious method cannot be used anymore.”

Asked about civilian casualties in Israeli attacks in Gaza, the Ambassador stressed, “We mourn the loss of lives of civilians and children on both sides. What is happening in Gaza is a tragedy, but who is responsible for that tragedy? It’s only Hamas because Hamas is committing a dual war crime. They are using their civilians as human shields, and they are deliberately launching their missiles and rockets at our cities, on our civilians.”