Israel’s UN Mission in New York is starting to go on the counter-attack against Hamas, and is seeking for the United Nations to officially declare Hamas a “terrorist organization.” The Israeli Mission commented that, “Surprisingly, to date the UN has not officially recognized any organization in the world as a terrorist organization.”
This week, Colonel Noam Neuman, Head of the International Law Department in the IDF’s Military Advocate General Corps, will travel to New York and meet with United Nations officials to offer evidence of “international crimes perpetrated by Hamas, especially in regards to the building of terror tunnels, the use of civilians as human shields and the persistent shooting on civilian population centers.” Col. Neuman will be assisted by Ehud Keinan, the legal adviser of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Recently, Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prossor commented that from the disconnected way the UN talks about the terrorist organization Hamas, “One would think that we were speaking about an organization that coincidentally found itself in a conflict not its own. It’s time that the United Nations begin to deal with the threat that terrorism poses. It’s one thing to give a green light to political terrorism, something which we have seen the UN excel at, but the terrorist attacks which Israel faces on a daily basis must be condemned.”
Israel is not the only country in the region that sees Hamas as a terrorist organization. In the wake of the terrible terrorist attack on Egyptian troops in Sinai, in which 33 Egyptian soldiers were murdered Monday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reportedly alleged that “foreign hands” were behind the attacks and a senior Egyptian military official accused “Palestinian elements” of being involved.
Hamas in the Gaza Strip is believed to be housing Islamist remnants from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood who have executed numerous terror attacks on Egyptian forces in the Sinai.
Israel’s diplomatic/legal offensive in New York is seen as a first step in fighting the overall international legal fight over Operation Protective Edge.
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmud Abbas said Monday he has called for an emergency UN Security Council session over the constant cycle of Arab rioting and violence, blaming Israeli “aggression” for the unrest, both throughout Jerusalem in general and on the Temple Mount in particular.
A spokesman for Jordan’s mission to the United Nations also said on Monday his country will request an emergency meeting of the Security Council meeting on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA).