Former Israel envoy to India Ron Malka emphasised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to “wipe Hamas off the face of the Earth.”
New Delhi: The Hamas is a “brain-washed fundamentalist group that has taken Palestinians living in Gaza as hostage and is using them as human shields”, Ron Malka, the ex-Israel envoy to India, told NDTV. He also said the goal of Israel’s response to Hamas’ attacks – 1,500 gunmen stormed the border and slaughtered over a thousand people – is the “total elimination of military capabilities of Hamas…”
“Don’t make a mistake…”, the Israeli diplomat said, “Hamas is not Palestinian… it is not Islam. They are brain-washed people… only brain-washed people can do these types of things to children, infants” and underlined the Israel government’s intention to “wipe Hamas off the face of the Earth”.
“They are a fundamental organisation… a terror organisation. This is a war between the free world and fundamentalists… the free world is fighting for its principle and values,” Mr Malka declared.
The fighting words come as the Gaza Strip – a 365 square km patch of land home to over 2.3 million people – teeters on the edge of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel’s “complete siege” means the Palestinian territory has run out of fuel, food and drinking water.
Gaza also mains power late last night, triggering a medical disaster as hospitals treating tens of thousands – those injured and suffering from diseases – without power.
Earlier Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likened Hamas to the Islamic State, and said, “Every Hamas member is dead man… we will crush and destroy them as Daesh was destroyed.”
Since the strikes began, over 4,000 people have perished on both sides, including hundreds murdered in hours by a lethal bombardment of missiles that overwhelmed Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome aerial defence system.
The dead on both sides include civilians – men, women, and children – and the number will almost surely rise considerably before the dust settles, especially because Tel Aviv is planning a ground invasion of Gaza and may create a second front in response to missile attacks from Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
Hamas’ attacks were followed by questions over the failure of Iron Dome and Israeli intelligence networks – seen by many as one of the world’s best – to predict and/or prevent the rocket fusillade.
On that topic Mr Malka told NDTV, “We will investigate it later. We were caught by surprise… but we are not surprised anymore. We are prepared now. Spirit and unity of Israeli people is remarkable.”
