Tel Aviv [Israel], October 30 (ANI): Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said on Monday the protests against Israelis amid the ongoing war with Hamas are ‘outrageous’ and pose a threat to the whole world.
“It’s horrific that we are seeing protests around the world calling for an Intifada… In the early 2 thousands, Israel saw a wave of suicide bombings on an almost daily basis, in cafes, bars, in malls. That was the Intifada, and we now have people on the streets of London and Paris calling to globalize the Intifada. To spread more violence, more genocidal violence against Jews. This is outrageous,” he said.
Invoking the 9/11 and the 26/11 terror attacks, he added, “This isn’t a threat only against Jewish people. It’s a threat to the whole world because when Israel suffered the Intifada in 2001, a year later, Al-Qaeda did 9/11, and a few years later there were suicide bombings on buses in London and then in 2008, there was a horrific attack in Mumbai.”
The spokesperson said Israel on October 7 was not the “last target” of “Islamist Jihadists”, he added that they were fighting for humanity.
“So we’ve been clear Israel might be on the front lines of this war against terror but we are not the last target of the Islamist Jihadists who perpetrated October 7th, and we need the whole world to wake up and understand that we’re fighting not only for ourselves, we’re fighting for humanity. And there could be no excuses for calls for genocide against Jews, calls for violence against Jews in protests around the world,” he added.
While not elaborating on operational matters and what its troops are going to do as the ongoing counter-offensive against Hamas rages in the coming days, Eylon said Israel was going after every Hamas infrastructure while doing everything to minimize civilian casualties, including on the Palestinian side.
“We are going after every single Hamas tunnel, every single Hamas rocket launcher, every single Hamas commander, every single Hamas fighter, they’re all legitimate targets…They all represent a clear and immediate danger to the security of our friends and family. And we are going after them in order to destroy them while doing everything we can to minimize civilian casualties, including on the Palestinian side as well,” Eylon said.
Appreciating India’s support and solidarity in the aftermath of the terror attacks and amid the ongoing war on Hamas, Eylon said his country was seeking similar diplomatic support from its friends and allies.
On India abstaining from a vote on a UN resolution, calling for an immediate cessation of the ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip to enable the mobilisation of humanitarian aid, he said he wished New Delhi had voted against it.
India on Friday (local time) abstained from voting on the draft resolution at the UN General Assembly submitted by Jordan, as it did not make any mention of the terrorist group Hamas.
“We appreciate India’s support. Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Netanyahu have spoken. Clearly in the UN resolution on Friday, we would have wanted India to vote against. It was an outrageous resolution. It didn’t mention Hamas. It didn’t call for an immediate return of the hostages. It’s like having a UN resolution three weeks after 9/11 and not mentioning al Qaeda or the Twin Towers being brought down by plane strikes. So, we appreciate the support of international friends that are standing by Israel side and want Israel to defeat Hamas. And we want more of that diplomatic support, especially from our friends and allies,” Eylon said.
On the mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, Eylon reaffirmed that Israel was fighting a war against Hamas and not against Palestinians or Gazans. He added that Israel takes very seriously its obligations to keep civilians out of harm’s way.
“This is a war we’re fighting against Hamas, not against the Palestinians not against Gaza, against the terror group that waged war on us with the October 7 massacre. Now we take very seriously our obligations to get civilians out of harm’s way. That’s why two and a half weeks ago, the Israeli Army gave people in northern Gaza 24 hours to evacuate for their own safety that 24 hours has since become two and a half weeks. And that’s because northern Gaza is where Hamas has embedded itself under civilian areas. It is using civilians as human shields,” Eylon said.
On the hostages held by Hamas, Eylon stated that his country was going to do everything possible to bring then back.
He informed that there are at least 239 hostages in Gaza, many of whom are children under the age of ten and five.
“At the moment, we know of at least 239 hostages in Gaza, I say at least, because we still have many missing persons, and we don’t know whether they were abducted or whether Hamas simply destroyed their bodies. 239 innocent people, including 33 children under the age of 10, including 10 children under the age of five. There are children inside the Gaza Strip. Babies, their parents were murdered in front of them they were ripped out of their parents’ arms, and now they’re being held in a dark tunnel in Gaza. by terrorists,” Eylon said.
“We are going to do everything, we can to bring our hostages home. We are fighting this war with two goals, one to bring back our stolen children, to make sure that Hamas can never steal our children again. And those two goals go hand in hand. We’re sending our men in. We’re going to do everything we can to bring back the hostages and we’re going to make sure that when this war ends, there is no longer a jihadi organization in the Gaza strip that can abduct our people ever again,” he added.
On the four hostages released by Hamas earlier, Eylon stated that they were released because of the pressure brought to bear on them by the ongoing military offensive and sustained diplomatic efforts by the global community.
“Hamas released four hostages, and they did it because of pressure. They did it because of Israeli military pressure and international diplomatic pressure. And we’re calling on the world all of Israel’s friends around the world, including in India, to put all pressure on Hamas and all pressure on its supporters to release our hostages immediately because there is no excuse, no excuse for abducting children from their beds and holding them for three weeks as hostages in a dark tunnel in the Gaza Strip,” Eylon said.
After infiltrating southern Israel by land, sea and air and killing civilians on October 7, Hamas gunmen sneaked back into Gaza with over 200 civilian hostages from border towns.
The hostages include several foreigners and civilians holding dual citizenship.
Israeli forces have stepped up their ground offensive in Gaza as part of the military response to the Hamas attacks, which, according to officials, killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians. (ANI)
