Crisis in Gaza: The Israeli Point of View

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/opinion/israel-gaza.html

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To the Editor:

“A Test for Israel in Gaza” (editorial, April 4) doesn’t mention, or minimizes, basic facts that led to the situation in Gaza.

First, we withdrew entirely from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, removing every Israeli resident, home, factory and synagogue. We are not responsible for the well-being of the people of Gaza.

In the years after our disengagement, billions of dollars in aid poured into the Gaza Strip. Instead of improving the lives of Palestinians, Hamas, internationally recognized as a terrorist group, misappropriated these funds, using them to build rockets and to dig terror tunnels with the intent of harming Israeli civilians.

Second, the restrictions that exist on Gaza are not the cause of the situation there but rather a result of Hamas’s refusal to renounce violence. This is not Israel’s condition, but rather that put forward by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations as part of the Quartet framework. If there were no terror, there would be no restrictions.

Finally, the fence that was attacked over the last week separates a sovereign, democratic state and a murderous terrorist entity. Our security forces acted judiciously, and a vast majority of those killed were terrorists who have been identified as members of Hamas.

These were not “peaceful protests.” As we warned the Security Council last week, armed terrorists were dispersed among the protesters, and numerous efforts were made to breach the fence. Every critic of Israel must ask himself how he would expect the security forces of his own country to react if terrorists armed with rifles and Molotov cocktails began to march on his country’s border.

Hamas has announced that it will continue to hide behind women and children and will plan further attacks on our sovereignty. It is the peak of hypocrisy for the international community to criticize Israel while ignoring the real factors causing pain and suffering to the innocent people of Gaza.

DANNY DANON, NEW YORK

The writer is Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.