ISRAEL – Stung by accusations that his country is “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the war last year, an Israeli military official this week told the Jamaica Observer that if that was the Jewish State’s intention it would have been done in the space of a minute. Israel Defence Forces spokesman Roni Kaplan, in an obvious reference to his country’s military superiority, is therefore urging the international community to stop the accusations, saying that his people want to live in peace but Hamas has been embedding its fighters inside Gaza’s civilian population. “We are not targeting civilians. If we would like to make a genocide in the Gaza Strip we could do it in one minute, but the actual thing is that the population in the Gaza Strip multiplied itself six times since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. If we would like to make a genocide in the Gaza Strip, why would we be making 15 million phone calls and dropping leaflets from the air asking the civilians to go out from dangerous places?” Kaplan argued in an interview on Thursday. “If we would like to make a genocide, why more than 1.1 billion kilograms of food, water, and medicine have been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip from the seventh of October?” he asked.

The war started on October 7, 2023 after Hamas fighters attacked at least four different areas in Israel that had a large concentration of Israelis and tourists, including the popular Nova Festival. More than 1,200 people were slaughtered in that attack and over 250 taken hostage. Additionally, houses and people were set on fire and there have been reports that hostages have been sexually assaulted by Hamas fighters.

In response, Israel launched a military offensive that has killed at least 44,580 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run health ministry which the United Nations (UN) regards as reliable. That has resulted in UN human rights experts accusing Israel of genocide several times, and South Africa filed a case against Israel at the UN’s top court in December 2023 accusing the Jewish State of “violating the genocide convention by promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza”. (Jamaicaobserver)

Photo: Israel Defence Forces spokesman Roni Kaplan points to the Gaza Strip in Palestine on Thursday. (Photos: Jason Cross)