Israel Files Complaint to U.N. Over Gaza Rocket Attacks

Israel has filed a complaint in the United Nations over rocket attacks from Gaza.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council President Susan Rice, Meron Reuben, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, called on the body to “send a clear and resolute message that these attacks are unacceptable.”

The letter, dated Tuesday, was sent several hours after a rocket fired from Gaza landed several yards from a kindergarten in session in a western Negev kibbutz, wounding a 14-year-old girl on her way to school. Israel responded to the attack later in the day with an airstrike on what it called a Hamas terror center in Gaza.

At least 13 rockets from Gaza have been fired on southern Israel since Sunday.

“The incidents of the past several days are part of an escalation of terrorist attacks emanating from Gaza that target Israeli civilians, towns, and military personnel,” the letter said.

Later it said, “In response to such attacks, Israel has exercised and will continue to exercise its right to self-defense.”

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Wednesday told Israel Radio that the Palestinian Authority fears a full-blown Israeli attack on Gaza, saying that “Military solutions such as these won’t accomplish a thing and would only complicate the situation.”

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