Ismail al-Ashqar scheduled to speak before U.N. Human Rights Council about “abductions of Palestinian parliament members by Israel” • Foreign Ministry: “Hamas and human rights are paradoxes; they contradict one another like two poles of a magnet.”

A senior Hamas official, Ismail al-Ashqar, was scheduled to speak Monday in Geneva before the United Nations Human Rights Council on the subject of Israeli arrests of senior members of the terrorist organization, among them parliamentarians.

Palestinian news outlets reported Sunday that Ashqar was expected to request that the council issue a formal condemnation against Israel.

Ashqar, a senior member of the organization’s political wing, is the cousin of Abd al-Latif al-Ashqar, who inherited the post vacated by Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was allegedly assassinated by Mossad agents in Dubai two years ago.

Hamas announced that Ashqar would “speak about the continuation of abductions of Palestinian parliament members by Israel and the abuse of the human rights of the Palestinian people by the occupation forces.”

Palestinian media reported that Hamas was striving to deepen its ties with Western countries -- namely in Europe -- therefore the group’s leadership in Gaza considered Ashqar’s speech before the human rights committee to be important.

Ashqar will remain in Europe over the coming days and is expected to hold a number of meetings with senior Swiss officials.

In recent years Israel has criticized the U.N. Human Rights Council for promoting an anti-Israel agenda. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor called Ashqar’s anticipated speech “a horrible joke.”

Palmor went on to say that “Hamas and human rights are paradoxes; they contradict one another like two poles of a magnet. Only a twisted mind can try and connect the two, and the respect that the invitation to Geneva bestows upon an organization that commits war crimes on a permanent basis should act as an alarm bell to all those who advocate for human rights.”