Frankfurt mayor defends Israeli response to Gaza rocket fire

"How many years, months or weeks would you give your government while sleeping in a shelter? Not years, not months, not weeks but minutes or hours, right?"

JUNE 20, 2018 14:23

Updated: JUNE 20, 2018 17:06

A worker digs up fragments from a projectile fired from Gaza that landed next to a kindergarten, June 20th 2018 (photo credit: ESHKOL REGIONAL COUNCIL) — A worker digs up fragments from a projectile fired from Gaza that landed next to a kindergarten, June 20th 2018

(photo credit: ESHKOL REGIONAL COUNCIL)

Mayor of Frankfurt and long-standing Israel advocate Uwe Becker defended Israel's air strikes in response to rockets fired from Gaza on Wednesday, praising it for its "pinpoint accurate reactions" and its restraint despite frequent attacks emanating from the coastal enclave and a lack of international support.

"Imagine for a short moment that your country would be attacked by rockets day by day. Imagine that terrorists would send self-made firebombs attached to kites and gas-balloons towards your home, your garden or your kid´s kindergarten. Imagine terrorists would dig tunnels to infiltrate your country or break the borders to your country in violent riots with the aim to attack and kidnap you and your family," Becker pointed out on his Facebook account, posted alongside a picture of him at the Western Wall, going on to explain that exactly this is the reality for many Israeli families every day.

"How many years, months or weeks would you give your government while sleeping in a shelter? Not years, not months, not weeks but minutes or hours, right?"

"While other national governments would not hesitate to enter the region from where the own country is attacked, Israel is focusing on pinpoint accurate reactions against Hamas and other terrorist groups," Becker emphasized. "So Israel and its military forces concentrate on eliminating the sources of violence while Hamas is attacking Israeli families. [...] Israel is not the aggressor Israel is defending its people."

The mayor's comments came in response to renewed tensions in Israel's south after dozens of rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. Three projectiles landed in Israeli communities, causing no injuries but damage to buildings and vehicles. Seven further rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome, and residents of the Gaza border communities got little sleep as Code Red sirens blared throughout the night.

According to Israeli media reports, one of the projectiles even landed near a kindergarten in the Eshkol regional council.

In retaliation to the overnight attacks as well as the ongoing launching of incendiary kites and balloons into Israeli territory, the IAF struck 25 Hamas targets in pinpoint precision strikes, targeting Hamas bases and training facilities.

While tensions in the country's south are rising, Israel supporters bemoaned the lack if international support and condemnation of Hamas. "Has anyone taking the floor at @UN_HRC today to condemn US withdrawal, especially from Europe, condemned the overnight Hamas rocket barrage against #Israel (>45 rockets & mortars fired)?" Arsen Ostrovsky, a prominent political analyst Tweeted on Wednesday.

Has anyone taking the floor at @UN_HRC today to condemn U.S. withdrawal, especially from Europe, condemned the overnight Hamas rocket barrage against #Israel (>45 rockets & mortars fired).#HumanRightsCouncil #HRC38 @EU_UNGeneva @FedericaMog @EUinIsrael pic.twitter.com/EH2Bmhfidh
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) June 20, 2018

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In a similar tone, Frankfurt's mayor pointed out in his Facebook post that "for the citizens of Israel normality is that the world is not standing in solidarity with them. The world is condemning what Israel is doing to protect its citizens. The UN constantly fails in responding on the permanent threat that Israel is facing."