Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States, defended Israel’s efforts to protect itself from Hamas’ deadly attacks and stressed that Hamas is responsible for the mass civilian casualties, not Israel.
Speaking with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Monday afternoon, Oren said "If Hamas continues to fire 100 rockets at us per day, clearly the operation can’t be over and Israel is going to have to take measures to defend itself."
He blamed Hamas for the loss of civilian life. "Well, Israel indeed has no intention of attacking the civilians of Gaza…" he said. Oren continued, "Hamas started this war. It fired now well over 3000 rockets into Israel as well as dug tunnels under the border with the sole goal of attacking Israeli farms and communities, killing women and children." He denounced Hamas for failing to protect its civilians from Israel’s attacks and for using them as shields in a deliberate move to portray Israel as heartless and responsible for civilian deaths. "It’s part of Hamas’ very deep strategy," he said.