The red dots on the UN’s maps represent more than destruction. They show the many cases in which terrorists attacked Israel from heavily populated areas in Gaza.

On Tuesday evening (Aug 26), the Egyptian Foreign Minister announced a ceasefire, which entered into effect at 7 pm. Since July 8th, 4,562 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza, killing six civilians and wounding 127.

The main objective of Operation Protective Edge is to re-establish stability for the citizens of Israel. Israel cannot accept a reality in which millions of its citizens are subject to the whims of radical Islamic terrorist organizations.

PM Netanyahu: "We said Israel would not negotiate under fire and we stand behind these words. We will achieve the goal of Operation Protective Edge militarily or diplomatically, or by a combination of both."

Hamas and other terrorist organizations' actions are in clear violation of the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. Their grave violations amount to war crimes.

Since the start of Operation Protective Edge, more than 3,250 rockets have been launched at Israel, striking at the civilian population throughout the country, from north to south. Three civilians have been killed.

Hamas uses mosques as command centers and to store weapons and hide infiltration tunnels.

During Operation Protective Edge, UNRWA announced that 20 rockets were discovered hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. This case of placing rockets in an UNRWA school was not the first incident of its kind in Gaza.

The Hamas tunnel industry used to be a well-known conduit for smuggling weapons, goods, funds and terrorists into the Gaza Strip. Now Hamas is using their tunneling know-how and resources for terrorist attacks on Israeli territory.

Hamas takes advantage of the fact that the IDF avoids attacking targets where it is know there are civilians.

Question and answers from Ambassador Ron Dermer's #AskDermer Twitter Q&A on July 17.

Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined the objective of Operation Protective Edge on CBS Face the Nation: to restore long term quiet and security to Israeli civilians by seriously degrading Hamas and other terrorist groups' capabilities in Gaza.

Ambassador Dermer discusses Hamas' use of civilians as human shields, "This is the difference between Israel and Hamas – we use our missiles to protect our people, they use their people to protect missiles."

On Tuesday, July 1, Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frankel were laid to rest in Modi'in. Messages entered into the form below will be included in the Embassy of Israel's condolence book on their behalf.

Amb. Dermer spoke to many reporters yesterday and today about the terrorist actions taken by members of Hamas that resulted in the death of three Israeli teens.