Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan. Photo: Gali Tibbon / Pool via Reuters.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and United Nations called on Thursday for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the UN Security Council Zhang Jun to condemn Hamas’ ongoing rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and support Israel’s right to self-defense.

In an official letter, Ambassador Gilad Erdan noted the causalities Israel has suffered from the rocket attacks, and said, “The indiscriminate rocket fire constitutes a double war crime: targeting Israel’s civilian population and launching the rockets from within Gaza’s civilian neighborhoods and institutions.”

“Hamas purposely places its terror facilities in the heart of the civilian population, including within multi-story buildings, cynically using the local Palestinian population as human shields,” he asserted.

Addressing the flashpoint issue of the Temple Mount, which partly triggered the current conflict, Erdan said, “Hamas is presenting itself as the ‘defender of Jerusalem and the holy sites.’ This is, of course, a lie. It is clear that Hamas premeditated this escalation in violence and terrorism and is happy to pay the price of casualties on both sides in order to strengthen itself politically.”

He emphasized that the “status quo” on the Temple Mount “has not and will not change.”

Erdan also pointed to the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority as a responsible party, saying, “This latest round of escalation, which has caused great suffering to countless innocent civilians, is a direct consequence of an ongoing incitement campaign by the Palestinians, directed by the upper echelons of the Palestinian Authority.”

“This irresponsible and hateful act has fanned the flames of violence all across Israel by exploiting religious fears,” he said. “It is abhorrent the Palestinian leadership has chosen to exert its influence in such a way.”

“I call upon the international community to unequivocally condemn the indiscriminate attacks by terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip against Israeli civilians and population centers and to support Israel’s fundamental right to self-defense,” Erdan said.