Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Palestinian civilians in Gaza were "responsible" for the Saturday attack by Hamas.
"It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians [being] not aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true," Herzog said Friday. "They could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’état."
"I agree there are many innocent Palestinians who don't agree with this, but if you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? We have to defend ourselves, we have the full right to do so," he added.
The Israeli president made the comments while calling for over 1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate in 24 hours. The evacuation was first announced to Gaza residents via leaflets from the Israel Defense Forces.
"Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the leaflets read. "This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made."
Hamas has told people in Gaza to ignore the evacuation order.
“Israel is removing Palestinians from their homes and lands for a second time, and we have responded to the Zionist crimes by targeting them and Ben Gurion,” Abu Obaida, spokesperson of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, said. "Displacement and exile are not for us, Israel is carrying out psychological warfare through the threats and their dark history, which shows they carry out crimes and killings as a form of collective punishment."
The United Nations has called the evacuation "impossible," due to the large number of people asked to leave the area, according to CNN. John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, called the evacuation a "tall order."
“We understand what they're trying to do: They're trying to move civilians out of harm's way and giving them fair warning. Now it's a tall order. It's a million people and very urban, dense environment. It's already a combat zone. So I don't think anybody's underestimating the challenge here of effecting that evacuation,” Kirby told CNN.
The war between Hamas and Israel started on Saturday when Hamas soldiers attacked Israel from Gaza. Hamas killed over 1,000 people and took over 100 hostages in that attack, according to NPR. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by many countries including the U.S., Israel and those in the European Union. Since the beginning of the war, Israel says Hamas killed 1,300 people. The Palestinian health ministry reports 1,800 killed in Gaza.
The reverse is also true? Israel is carrying out a policy of colonization against the Palestinians, and the Israeli public knows this. A policy which has lead to a very one sided body count. Does that mean the Israeli civilians killed recently were, in fact, valid targets? Of course not. Only a psychopath would say so.
And, in turn, only a psychopath would try to justify the collective punishment being carried out against Palestinians.
The civilians don't have to be valid targets. It's a war. Did America warn Japan before they dropped atomics? Israel is already doing what they can to limit civilian losses, but it will never be enough for people like you. The Palestinian people cannot remove Hamas, so Israel will do what it must to defend themselves. That's what this war is about. Keep excusing terrorists. Keep demanding Israel let their children face constant threats of rockets and invasion. It's not you who has to live that way.
Israel is doing nothing to limit civilian casualties. They are covering their ass with the weakest excuses to justify their murderous intent. Your murderous intent. Air dropping pamphlets? Get the fuck out of here. Well functioning stable democracies completely at peace would have a difficult/impossible time evacuating an area as densely populated as Gaza.
Israel is murdering civilians, they know they are murdering civilians, and they want to murder civilians. The state of Israel is acting as a terrorist.
Again, they declared war on Hamas, not Palestine. Do you insist that Palestine is Hamas? Do you remember what Hamas did to them? What this community refuses to acknowledge or remember? Of course you know. You'll use any loss of civilian life to attack Israel, because ultimately when Israel's civilians are attacked, you won't be there to defend them. I'll just repeat the quote to you:
"I agree there are many innocent Palestinians who don't agree with this, but if you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? We have to defend ourselves, we have the full right to do so, he added."
The Israeli President also said:
Which is from the article the post is about so you are well aware of it. Don't ask if I make the distinction between Palestinians and Hamas. I do, but I'm not the one currently waging a bombing campaign while claiming the distinction doesn't matter. Israel is refusing to make that distinction. You are as well. While trying to speak out both sides of your mouth.
"They could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’état.”
Absolutely true. Peace won't come until the Palestinian people realize that the least death and destruction comes from rebelling against the terrorist forces within, instead of harboring and excusing them.
And the Israelis could rise up against the colonial project being waged against the Palestinians, but don't. So that brings us back to the question: Are civilians valid targets, then, in your opinion?
Because that would be, as I expressed earlier, the take of a psychopath.
They could rise up against the oppression of a group of people harboring terrorists and shooting hundreds of rockets a day at them? Gee, I can't imagine why they wouldn't do that.
Civilians aren't valid targets. Hamas is. Civilians can become valid targets if they take action to harbor or defend Hamas. At that point, they stop being civilians.
Also, where are your tears for the civilians of Israel? I'm waiting.
So you are pro murdering civilians.
I do feel for civilian Israelis who have died as a result of this conflict, and their loved ones. Whereas you have fully admitted you are fine with murdering Palestinian civilians so long as you can provide the weakest possible justification to remove their humanity. You aren't in a position to shame me. Shame on you, murderer.
Ok. You demand Israel let themselves be endlessly attacked, something you yourself would never survive or live with. You refuse to offer solutions because this is the best solution there is. Hamas must be destroyed, because evil must be destroyed if there is to be peace. Again, that peace will not come until the Palestinian people learn to reject Hamas, reject hatred, and commit to peaceful co-existence. Until that time, Israel has the right and the means to defend themselves. Everything else is excuses, excuses made on behalf of terrorists. You can't shame me for standing against terrorism. It's not a position I'm ashamed of.
Your state is a terrorist and you stand for that terrorism. You ought to hang your head in shame.
Israel is a colonial state and it's only path to long term peace is the same path as every other post-colonial state: Put aside the desire to be an ethnostate. Israel must become an egalitarian society with universal suffrage and civil rights guaranteed for all. Every other path leads to either genocide, totally unacceptable, or the continuation of this conflict, forever.
Which is nothing but a demand that they allow terrorists into their borders and face endless attacks upon their children and government. So you offer no solutions, only demands that Israel suffer or be destroyed. The answer is no. I oppose terrorism, so I oppose Hamas, and I support Israel's right to defend itself. So long as they commit to a war against Hamas, they are justified in that defense. Israel does not have to suffer the death of its people to prevent the deaths of Palestinians.
Then you support terrorism and genocide. Hopefully wiser minds than yours prevail.
You didn't actually object to what I said. Do you admit, then, that you stand for the destruction of Israel? What a stupid position. You think they're going to roll over and just die because that would make you feel better? They exist. Deal with it. Cry about it. They aren't doing anything you or I wouldn't do in their position. It's because I have empathy that I support their pursuit of peace. There can be no peace with Hamas at their borders, so Hamas must be removed from their borders.
All of which the Palestinian people could have done, by the way. They could have spent the blood of their children to seek out the destruction of Hamas. Instead, they allow Israeli children to be murdered. There will be no peace this way, so Israel must make peace through war.
You could have advocated for an egalitarian state which protects the rights of all, but instead you advocate for war. Do you admit, then, that you stand for the destruction of the Palestinian people?
I don't admit that, nor would I ever advocate that. I stand for the destruction of Hamas, a terrorist organization that would dedtroy you or I without hesitation. That's what you're defending. That's what you refuse to denounce. You demand the Jewish people let themselves be destroyed. It's not going to happen, and any group that tries will face the consequences. Again I'll quote the article to you.
"I agree there are many innocent Palestinians who don't agree with this, but if you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? We have to defend ourselves, we have the full right to do so," he added."
Funny that you can't bring yourself to denounce the actions of a literal terrorist organization. You wouldn't be in favor of murdering and brutalizing Jewish babies, would you?
Of course not. But you do.
No one is fooled by your attempt to manipulate, murderer.
Again, you have no solution, just a demand Israel let their children be endlessly attacked and murdered. Keep crying, then. I don't care and neither does Israel. Hamas is the aggressor with a committed charter to see the complete destruction of Israel. This is what a war looks like. I'm not sorry you can't have what you want, the complete destruction of a state of people.
I did give you a solution. You didn't want to hear it because the only solution you want to hear is eliminationist.
Your solution is for Israel to welcome Hamas into their borders. You did not offer a solution at all. Unless you think the destruction of Israel is a solution.
Did America die after abolition? You want an ethnostate and you want to eliminate the Palestinians.
As I've advocated and continue to advocate, I am opposed to terrorism and support Israel's right to defend itself from those that would see its citizens murdered and its government destroyed. You can't even denounce terrorists brutalizing babies, so you can stop with the moral grandstanding.
You are in active support of baby murder. You advocate for it.
No, because murder implies an active malice. Murder would be what Hamas did to the Israeli children, which you have yet to denounce. Murder would be killing a child in front of their parents, killing their parents, and uploading the video to the victim's Facebook. Something you have yet to denounce. Killing children is not defacto murder. It's a war. Children will die. In the end, we can only hope this is the least deaths possible to excise the cancer of Hamas. At least, that's what I hope. With you, it's not clear at all.
So baby murder is just when you do it.
You don't consider Palestinian children to be human. This much is clear.
Again, I'm the one willing to denounce terrorism and murder. You are not. So quit moral grandstanding. You're shameless.
I just explained to you the distinction between murder and killing. The two are not the same, but you need them to be the same to push your anti-semitic narrative. At this point you are implicitly defending the murder and brutalization of Israeli babies, an action taken by Hamas and which you refuse to denounce. You wouldn't recognize morality if it was attached to a missile launched through your window.
Except you didn't. You are actively apologizing for the terrorism inflicted on Palestinians. Advocating for it. You are pro terrorism.
Regardless of the lies you tell yourself about your side's terrorism being just.
Dead. Brutalized. Babies.
That's what you're defending. That's what you refuse to denounce. Did you wake up today and decide to defend terrorism? The people who would not hesitate to kill you in service of their cause? That's what you defend.
At no point did I ever defend that. I defend a ceasefire.
You're defending the ongoing murder of babies. Get the fuck out of here with your high horse, you are defending the ongoing murder of babies and other civilians. You support terrorism. Right now. Babies being murdered, right now, you advocate for more.
You defend it implicitly because you refuse to denounce what happened to Israel while pretending you care about the deaths of innocents. You care about no such thing, as has been shown. I, on the other hand, have PROUDLY denounced the evil of terrorism in all its forms. So long as Hamas festers outside Israel's borders, there can be no peace.
No you haven't. Denounce Israel's terrorism against the Palestinians. We can both play this weird power game you seem to want to play.
You won't, though, because you advocate for and want more of that terrorism.
I don't have to. Israel declared war on Hamas. Is it your belief that Palestinians are all Hamas? You're the one insisting Israel is there for Palestinian blood, while Israel told them to evacuate areas they intended to attack. While Hamas attacked those who were evacuating and tried to deceive them into staying in their homes. A terrorist organization that uses Palestinians as human shields, which you refuse to condemn, while you cry about the actions of Israel and refuse to acknowledge or condemn the harm to their children and nation. I think you've been plenty exposed at this point. Once again, I am happy to denounce terrorism in all its forms, and I note that at every turn you accuse Israel of terrorism while you change the definitions and ignore the facts Israel has stated as the cause of this war. You're finished.
Israel is not killing just Hamas. Quit hiding behind these word games you coward. Hundreds of children and counting, murdered. Were they all Hamas? Or just harbouring them and thus making them valid targets in your opinion?
Israel is a terrorist state. A murderous state. Denounce that terrorism. Denounce that murder.
But again, you won't. Because you want it. You want to destroy an entire people.
Well you got it right at first, then you messed up. It's true, Israel is not killing just Hamas. But what they're NOT doing is murdering Palestinians. Murder is an act of malice intended to destroy a specific person. Israel does want to murder, but who they want to murder is Hamas. As has been stated. As you know. What Israel has not done, despite what you seem to want, is to go out and destroy any and every Palestinian they find, without discrimination. They have not done that. So, no, they are not murdering Palestinians. To answer your other questions, yes, harboring terrorists makes you complicit with terrorism. The Palestinians could have chosen to wage their own war against Hamas. They have not, or cannot. So now Israel must.
I don't regard Israel as a terrorist state either. If the surrounding nations would leave them alone, there could be peace. That's not what terrorists do. Meanwhile, Hamas has an active charter to destroy Israel and all Jews. They invaded Israel, raped its parents, brutalized its children. And uploaded it to the victims Facebook. That's real terrorism. Which you have yet to denounce.
Yes? Once 11 days before the first weapon and again as the first weapon was being deployed.
Being horrified by the way Israel treats Palestinians and having strong opinions on the subject doesn't in any way imply you're rooting for Hamas.
They say that to justify apartheid and genocide and then changing the subject to you support terrorists.
They have rocks in their heads, and they are full of racist hatred towards their fellow human brothers.
It’s sad. Both sides are awful.
Palestine is the only one whose existence is at risk here.
Edit: Think about it like this: You moved into my house without any consent, claim it is yours, keep tasering me and have two missile launchers aimed at me, yet you act offended when I point my own missile launcher at you.
Ok, your side’s facism is better than the other side’s.
Good job murderer.
Palenstinians and Israelis are the same fucking people.
Your argument can be used the same way for palestine. You are either discussing in bad faith or hasn't bothered to inform yourself well enough.
How is the killing of innocent civilians included in the right to defend oneself?
Your hypocrisy is kind of funny.
You are the only one simping for the IDF
So, do the Palestinians have the right to defend themselves against all of the violence the IDF has done to them year after year? There've been frequent incidents of the IDF murdering people or members of the Geneva Convention violating settlements in West Bank attacking and killing Palestinians.