The UK’s permanent representative at the UN Security Council has condemned repeated mortar and rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israel.

“I condemn, without qualification, in the strongest terms yesterday’s mortar and rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians are unacceptable and they are unjustifiable. Those that risk killing or injuring children are heinous,” Ambassador Karen Pierce said.

“These attacks can’t be ignored by the Council. The UK fully supports Israel’s right to self-defense and the right to defend their citizens from such acts of terror.”

Ms Pierce spoke after Thursday’s mass attack by Hamas across the Israel border that saw more than 100 rockets and mortars launched from the Gaza Strip into the Jewish state.

Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system but several landed, including one in a kindergarten shortly before children were expected to arrive and another that caused damage to a home in which a family slept.

Three soldiers and one civilian sustained light to moderate injuries from exploding terror rockets, the army said.