Many people question me about whether Hamas is the culprit behind the ongoing bloody confrontation with Israel. Then they ask: Why did Hamas decide suddenly to attack Israel?
So, let's talk about Hamas.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation -- this is not just me saying so -- but it is recognised officially as such by countries including the European Union, the United States, Japan and Canada.
Unfortunately, like Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS), the Hamas terrorist organisation in 2007 seized power in the Gaza Strip, purging and killing scores of Palestinian Authority officials. No Palestinian Authority leader has dared to set foot in Gaza since 2007.
Much like the ISIS modus operandi, Hamas has taken the local population, in this case the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, as its hostages, even using them as human shields.
Hamas, like ISIS, has an ultra-extremist ideology detailed in their Hamas covenant that specifically calls for no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This means the complete destruction of the State of Israel.
To that end in the past, they blew up buses, hotels, restaurants, discotheques and other civilian targets in Israel using weapons of mass destruction: suicide bombers.
When Hamas realised they could no longer send their suicide bombers into Israel as we managed to block the border, they resorted to launching missiles into Israeli cities trying to kill as many Israeli men, women and children, as they could. Unfortunately, as a result of the indiscriminate barrages of missiles and mortars, two Thai workers were killed and eight others were injured on Tuesday -- yet another example of the senseless killings committed by Hamas.
In the past seven days of the current fighting Hamas has launched no less than 3,400 missiles, all of them into Israeli cities. Some 20% of those rockets are failed launches which actually land back in Gaza itself, killing Palestinian civilians.
Israel is responding to indiscriminate attacks with precision strikes against Hamas military targets. We take unparalleled steps to prevent civilian casualties. Not only do we strictly adhere to international law, but we go far beyond. Before targeting a building that has been proven to have Hamas ammunition or other infrastructures inside, the Israeli Defence Forces actually make phone calls and send text messages to the inhabitants of the building, giving them a warning that enables them to evacuate to ensure that everyone gets out beforehand. This protocol, called "knock on the roof", is not used by any other army in the world.
As an Israeli, I am deeply pained by the death of every civilian, whether Israeli or Palestinian. But any attempt to compare Israel and Hamas is factually, legally, morally and intellectually wrong, and in my view dangerous.
It is one thing to support the Palestinians and their dreams of statehood, but an entirely different matter to support Hamas. Backing Hamas will lead to the success of Hamas's insidious strategy of firing rockets at Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians in Gaza. It will lead to the deaths of more innocent Israelis and Palestinians. It will lead to the strengthening of the radical Hamas militants, the weakening of the moderate Palestinian Authority, and the undermining of the chances for dialogue. If you choose to avoid condemning Hamas, it will only continue the cycle of violence and undermine the possibilities for peace.
It is high time the international community stops accepting the Hamas strategy of turning the Palestinians in Gaza into human shields, and using schools, hospitals and high rises to hide its terror machine. This in turn would pave the way towards a peaceful future by demanding the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip and insisting on an authority in Gaza that invests in the well-being of the people there, rather than the total annihilation of the State of Israel.
Dr Meir Shlomo is the Ambassador of Israel to the Kingdom of Thailand.