Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor sharply criticized the UN on Wednesday, after Secretary General Ban Ki Moon accused Israel of "war crimes" against Palestinian Arabs in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.
"If the UN assembly had invested a tenth of the energy invested in investigating Israel, it would reveal horrific war crimes on the part of Hamas," Prosor fired.
"The international community has lost its way," he continued. "This organization was founded to promote morality, truth and justice. Unfortunately, that is not its mission now."
Earlier, Ban accused Israel of "war crimes" in Gaza.
"The fighting has raised difficult questions of proportionality, attacks on civilians and whether Israel abided by international humanitarian law," Ban stated.
He claimed that Israel knew of the presence of civilians in UN facilities, and that it did not justify hitting Hamas terrorists hiding within those buildings.
"A suspicion of armed activity does not justify the risk of hundreds of thousands of civilians," Ban said.
Ban opened a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly with an appeal for a lasting peace as a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was holding for a second day.
"The senseless cycle of suffering in Gaza and the West Bank [Palestinian Authority - ed.], as well as in Israel must end," he told the 193-nation assembly.
After three wars in Gaza in six years, the UN secretary general warned that the world's patience with the Israelis and the Palestinians was being tested.
"Do we have to continue like this - build, destroy, and build and destroy?" Ban asked. "We will build again but this must be the last time - to rebuild. This must stop now."
The UN General Assembly was convened at the request of Arab countries, who have criticized the Security Council for failing to adopt a strongly-worded resolution to press Israel and Hamas to stop.
Jordan has circulated a draft resolution in the Security Council calling for a ceasefire, a lifting of all travel and import restrictions on Gaza, and an investigation of attacks on UN-run schools that were being used as headquarters by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The document has yet to come up for a vote.
The UN has been virulently anti-Israel throughout the conflict, helping spark waves of anti-Semitism worldwide as it contributed to the media's coverage of fighting in Gaza.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, who also launched the investigation into Israel by the UN and the Assembly meeting Wednesday, has accused Israel of violating international law by defending itself against Hamas rockets, and recently skewered Israel for not 'sharing' the Iron Dome missile defense system - which may also have offensive capabilities - with Hamas terrorists.