In an interview with CNN Portugal, IDF spokesman accuses Hamas of exposing civilians to death to manipulate public opinion
More than 400 people died in Gaza in an attack from Israel, which broke the ceasefire. Asked by CNN Portugal about civil victims, Rafael Rozenszajn, spokesman for Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF), argues that Israel “does everything he can to minimize civil damage, while Hamas does everything he can to maximize civil damage.”
“I think the question has to be what Hamas is doing to take children out of combat zones, what Hamas is doing not to use schools such as operating centers, what Hamas is doing not to use cemeteries as a platform to launch their missiles, what Hamas is doing not to use civilians to store their weapons. This is the correct question. Hamas does everything he can to maximize civilian damage, exactly so that journalists like you ask me that question about the damage to Gaza range.
Authorities in Gaza speak of more than 400 dead with the attacks on Tuesday. The IDF spokesman belies: “I suggest, first of all, that he does not rest on Hamas’s numbers. Hamas has already approved that he has no commitment to the truth, we cannot support us in terrorist numbers. Israel’s army acts according to all the rules of international law,” says Rafael Rozenszajn. “All of our targets are military targets, they are Hamas terrorists, they are Hamas leaders, they are terrorist infrastructures used by Hamas to commit their acts of terrorism. So it’s different from Hamas, which has no commitment to international laws, which hides behind civilians and uses civilian death as a strategy,” Rafael Rozenszajn continues. “For us, any damage to civilians is a tragedy. We do everything we can to minimize civil damage, but Hamas does everything we can to maximize civil damage, because this is the strategy of Hamas. We will continue to act with strong hand to attack the terrorists of Hamas and do everything we can to ensure that civilians are not injured, not to minimize all the war, and we can do everything to do everything. The damage to civilians “.
Rafael Rozenszajn also says that “the great responsible” for the civilian victims “is not the one who attacks terrorists but who uses civilians to ensure the lives of terrorists.” “This is the correct question to ask,” he insists.
On the other hand, the IDF spokesman accuses Hamas of “not being serious in the possibility of returning the 59 hostages that are still inhuman in Gaza.” “Unfortunately Hamas, which is a cruel terrorist group, is not serious in the possibility of returning the 59 hostages. We have information that Hamas is rearganizing, that he is reorganizing and that he was planning to make more attacks against the state of Israel. Attacks against Israel and has no seriousness or intention to return the 59 hostages, which are still inhuman in the underground tunnels of the Gaza Strip, “he said.
Confronted with the declarations of the hostage families, which are now saying that these new Israeli attacks mean giving up all negotiations for liberation, Rafael Rozenszajn states that the goal of IDF is “bringing back the 59 hosts that are still in the hands of Hamas in the Hamas military terrorist capacity and the ability of Hamas to continue to rule Gaza.” “Hamas clearly says that it aims to continue attacks such as October 7th. No sovereign country would accept such a situation. We have no choice but to continue to achieve the goals of this war – when we understand that Hamas has no intention of returning hostages and is acting to plan and make more terrorist attacks against Israel.”
The Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations Assistance Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa), Muhannad Hadi, classified the Israeli attack on the Gaza range as unacceptable, appealing to immediate restoration of ceasefire. In a statement, he says hundreds of people were killed in the wave of air attacks against the Palestinian enclave.
Shortly after 02:00 (00:00 in Lisbon), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered the army to act “vigorously against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip”. Netanyahu’s office justified the attack by stating that Hamas rejects releasing the hostages. The bombing, which targeted various locations of the enclave, hit schools that welcome refugees and humanitarian zones, causing victims in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, as well as nusrato and al-Bureij (center) and in Jabalia and in the city of Gaza (North), according to information and images released by the Palestinian media.
