Netanyahu slams world for failing to condemn Gaza rocket fire
'I'm interested to see if the silence will continue when we act in self defense,' prime minister says about sporadic Gaza rocket fire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the international community on Sunday morning for failing to condemn Gaza rocket fire at southern Israel.
"I did not hear a single member of the international community condemn the attack, and the UN did not say a word," Netanyahu said. "I'm interested to see if the silence will continue when we act in self defense."
"It should be clear: the hypocrisy that is sweeping the world will not chain our hands from defending the citizens of Israel," he added.
Sporadic rocket fire has been ongoing over the past few weeks, with errant Palestinian factions, particularly one sympathizing with the Islamic State, breaking the ceasefire in a challenge to Hamas.
On Saturday night, a rocket was fired towards Ashkelon and landed in a field. The IAF attacked terror infrastructure at the northern Gaza Strip overnight in response for the rocket.
As many as six rocket have been fired at Israel since the end of Operation Protective Edge nearly a year ago. Two landed in Sdot Negev on Wednesday and the week before, a rocket fell in Gan Yavne.
Hamas claimed to have arrested the perpetrators behind the rocket launching in late May, saying it has no interest in an escalation with Israel at present.
"What happened yesterday (the rocket fire) goes against the interests of the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and against our national interests," a Hamas source told Ynet on May 27. "We consider the rocket fire to be a dangerous thing."
The recent rounds of rocket fire come as ISIS supporters in Gaza have been openly challenging Hamas, even threatening the ruling group with an ultimatum to end its crackdown on other groups. In response to the ultimatum, Hamas recently killed one of the ISIS supporters in a gun fight that erupted during an attempted arrest.
Matan Tzuri, Yoav Zitun and Elior Levy contributed to this report.
