Six Qassam rockets were launched at Israel late this morning by Hamas terrorists who claim to have accepted a "cease-fire."  Thankfully no one has been injured in today's attacks though there was damage inflicted on several buildings.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Gillerman, told the Security Council last night that the apparent lull in Hamas rocket attacks is only superficial, because the bombs keep ticking, albeit quietly, while Hamas is using this time to smuggle in and produce more rockets.

"During the last month, Hamas fired more than 300 rockets at Israel, at least 23 of them Iranian-made Grad missiles that hit the city of Ashkelon," Gillerman said.  "The rocket attacks marked an escalation of violence not just in number, but also in weaponry. Grad rockets - smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Iran during the breach of the Gaza border this January - have greater range, larger warheads, and fragment on impact. Hamas' new weapon of choice means that a quarter of a million Israeli civilians now live in constant danger of rocket fire. We can all thank Iran for adding another weapon to the Hamas arsenal, in addition to its already heinous suicide attacks and deadly Kassam rockets. [Hamas also] continued to wreak havoc and daily terror on the people of Sderot - a small but resilient city of 23,000, where children no longer run around on playgrounds; they now run to bomb shelters. Such is the reality in Sderot, where 15 seconds is all you have to find safety before a Kassam rocket comes crashing down."

"I am sure that many in this Council watched with horror and disgust as Hamas terrorists joyfully fired their rifles into the air [after the Merkaz HaRav slaughter] and passed out candy to children in celebration. If anyone doubted what the extremists stand for, the reaction in Gaza to the murder of eight Israeli boys sets the record straight. It was also a stark reminder that these were the same people who danced on the rooftops after 9/11.

"Which is why, Mr. President, it was so sad and disturbing that the Council could not condemn the terrorist attack. The Security Council has a longstanding practice of condemning terrorism, no matter the victims, no matter the location, no matter the perpetrator, no matter the motivation. Yet the Council could not unanimously condemn this terrorist attack and intentional killing of civilians, for the Council was blocked by a politicized opposition, of one Member State [Libya - ed.] in particular.

"Lately, a particularly worrisome trend has been apparent when it comes to the discourse concerning our region," Gillerman continued. "Some have a penchant for equating the lawful actions of states in defense of their citizens with the violence of terrorists whose goal is to endanger those very civilians. The misguided tendency to accept the "status quo" of terrorism - as expressed even by some UN officials in their statements and reports - is simply unacceptable. Such parity, which is often in the name of an ill-conceived balance, undermines the strength and credibility of moderate states to bolster one another and isolate the extremists."

Before concluding his speech to the Security Council, Gillerman also addressed the tensions on the northern border of Israel, noting that Hizbollah is violating the cease fire reached after the 2006 war in three areas:  weapons continue to flow illegally from Syria into Lebanon, Hizbollah is re-arming and has already increased more than tripled the arsenal it had in 2006 as its spokesmen openly brag, and Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser are still unaccounted for.

Re-posted with permission from www.lekarev.org.