‘Understanding and knowing the truth’: 10 ambassadors tour Gaza Strip border and Hamas terror tunnel
A delegation of 10 ambassadors to the United Nations and the US visited the Gaza Strip border and the IDF’s Southern Command on Wednesday and learned first-hand the threats posed by the Hamas terrorist organization.
Australia’s ambassador to U.N. Ambassador Mitch Fifield is part of the group
The delegation is in Israel for a week-long visit, following the IDF’s Operation Guardian of the Walls against Hamas in May, and at the invitation of Israel’s Ambassador to the US and the United Nations, Gilad Erdan.
The ambassadors include representatives from Australia, Argentina, Bhutan, Ukraine, Kenya, Guatemala, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, and Tonga.
During the day, the ambassadors visited the sector and received security reviews, including a review by the Home Front Command Commander, Major General Uri Gorodin in the city of Sderot, and a review by the Commander of the Southern Command, Major General Eliezer Toledano in the Gaza Division.
The ambassadors also toured an Iron Dome defence system battery and a Hamas terrorist tunnel exposed by the IDF at the Karni crossing area.
Erdan said he invited the delegation to “see and hear the truth about what is happening here – I am sure that after this tour the ambassadors will work with me so that positions from the UN are not distorted and biased, as we heard during Australia’s the operation.”
“I will continue to fight so that the moral distortions in the UN are corrected and so that the UN does not continue to compare a defensive democracy like Israel to a murderous terrorist organization like Hamas,” he stated.
Wednesday’s tour was “one of the highlights of the delegation for me, in light of the goal I set for myself to expose the ambassadors to the truth about what is happening here,” he said.
“Anyone who fails to distinguish between the war crimes of a terrorist organization and Israel’s right to self-defence – strengthens the extremist forces, encourages terrorist organizations around the world to use civilians as human shields and harms the chances for peace,” he declared.
Erdan said that “it is clear” to him that the delegation will return “understanding and knowing the truth – Israel is a moral and democratic state that defends itself against murderous terrorist organizations that endanger the entire region.”
“I am sure that the next time we have to take military action against terrorism in Gaza, they will work to give us support and breathing space in the international arena,” he concluded.
TPS
