UN article used to defend Hamas whilst ostensibly empathising with Israeli victims of rockets

I was surprised to see that IRIN the UN human rights news site published an article about "Israeli communities traumatized by Gaza rockets.”

There's quite a bit about how Israelis suffer at the hands of the terrorists in Gaza.

Of course a neutral tone is taken as to who initiated 'the recent violence' and the usual minimising of the dangers from 'crude rockets' and of how few israelis get killed by them.

Amongst all of this there is no mention of or condemnation of Hamas terrorists and their allies for their human rights abuses in firing rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas. No mention of this being a War Crime against israelis carried out several times a week. Human rights abuse is a phrase reserved only for Israel when it tries to defend its civilian population from arab terror.

There is however a mention in the article about Israeli casualties of the conflict of the UN condemnation of Israel for being 'disproportionate'.

 This is despite Israel not attacking indiscriminately and usually managing to avoid civilian casualties despite the difficulties of finding arab terrorists who hide amongst civilians, in houses and mosques, coming out only briefly to fire their missiles before returning to their hiding places.

So maybe it is too much to expect any UN organisation, even one devoted to analysis, and in an article discussing the indiscriminate rocket attacks, around 12,000 missiles fired at israeli towns and cities now, to condemn anyone other than jews.

The piece begins by saying that civilians don't want another Gaza 'offensive' to root out the terror. No evidence is brought for this assertion. Sderot's mayor has called for this a number of time as the missiles keep falling on his battered community (the 'militants' choose strategic times such as early morning, on the Shabbat so as to ruin the jewish day of rest, or when children are going to and from school. A couple of weeks ago the new school year started. No sooner had the children sat down on the first morning of term, they had to shelter from an incoming rocket).

Israeli civilians living near the Gaza Strip are feeling the strain as a result of the recent escalation of violence between militants in Gaza and the Israeli army, and are calling for increased protection - though not another Gaza offensive.

Meanwhile, Israeli communities living in the southern district are increasingly anxious in the wake of the recent violence.

Militants in Gaza fired at least 140 rockets (mostly crude, home-made Qassams) and mortars at Israel during four days of fighting on 7-10 April, reported the Israeli army, during which hundreds of thousands of Israelis took shelter in secure areas. Protective shelters are also located in public places, like bus stops and playgrounds. Two Israeli civilians were injured.

Most of the rockets fell in open areas, but several homes in the Eshkol region were hit.

During the same period the Israeli army launched a series of air strikes, tank-shelling and live ammunition fire at numerous targets throughout Gaza, killing 23 Palestinians, including 10 civilians, and injuring 65 Palestinians, including 46 civilians, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In the past UN officials have denounced israel’s disproportionate use of force against occupied Palestinian territory.

The UN likes to repeat the lie that Gaza is still 'occupied'. This is despite Israel's total withdrawal from there, and a border with Egypt.

Violence between Gaza militants and the Israeli army reignited in mid-March.

School bus hit

“I do not feel safe here after the school bus was attacked last week,” said Ronit.

The school bus in the southern district was hit by an anti-tank rocket on 7 April, badly wounding the driver and a 16-year-old boy. It had dropped off children from the kibbutz just minutes before the attack.

Notice the passive tense, violence 'reignite' for Israel being attacked by Hamas rockets. And 'was hit' is used to describe the Hamas deliberate targeting of a school bus as opposed to the description of Israel's air force actively 'killing'. Note also the accepting without comment of the Hamas lies of supposedly not targeting civilians even when Hamas attacked a yellow, unmistakably marked school bus.

Hamas took credit for the attack that hit the school bus, but did not intend to target children, Hamas deputy foreign minister Ghazi Hamad in Gaza told IRIN.

The attack was a reprisal for the Israeli air force’s killing of three figures in Hamas’s military wing on 1 April.

“Hamas is against targeting civilians,” said Hamad, adding: “Israel purposefully targets civilians in Gaza, and they have the military capabilities to be sure of their targets.”

How can even the UN include such bare face lies as this at face value, without comment? Even the often anti-Israeli newspaper Haaretz pointed out that on the one occasion that Hamas apologized for killing civilians, it retracted the apology.

Historically, Hamas has characterized its rocket attacks against Israel as part of its “resistance” to Israeli military occupation of Palestinian land.

In the end this UN article whilst pretending,to sympathise with israelis suffering a constant torment of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza  (the only occasion I can remember seeing a UN article doing so )  is actually used as a vehicle to defend Hamas as only replying to 'disproportionate' Israeli attacks.