Statement by Ambassador Gabriela Shalev to the UN Security Council
United Nations, New York
8 January 2009
In 2005 when Israel left Gaza, we hoped we would never have to return.
But eight years of continuous rocket attacks by the Hamas terrorist organization, Hamas' refusal to extend the period of calm, and its smuggling of weapons during this period, left Israel with no choice but to act in self defense.
Responsibility for the current hostilities lies squarely with Hamas. The international community must focus its attention on the cessation of Hamas' terrorist activity and make clear that a terrorist organization can never be a legitimate leadership.
The past eight years of terror, and the period of so-called calm, have taught us that any arrangement must be fully respected and secured, including the total cessation of rocket fire and smuggling, in order to be durable and to allow the possibility of lasting peace.