Israeli government spokesman David Mensah on Monday slammed critics who complained about Palestinian civilian casualties during last weekend’s Israeli hostage rescue mission in Gaza.
“This is the ultimate brazenness,” Mencel told reporters after an AFP correspondent asked whether Israel had breached its “legal obligations” by raiding in broad daylight near the busy market in Nuseira, Gaza, where the hostages are being held.
“It is unfortunate but it is not acceptable for them to kidnap our people, hide them in crowded places and then complain about civilian casualties,” Mensah added.
The four hostages — Noah Al-Ghamani, 25, Almog Meir Yan, 21, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40 — were rescued Saturday morning in a daring joint operation conducted by the IDF, the IDF, and the IDF, Breitbart News reported. IDF counterterrorism commander Arnon Zamora was killed during the operation.
Al-Ghamani and the three male hostages were being held in separate locations a short distance away. Al-Ghamani was rescued without incident, but a heavy gunfight erupted when Israeli special forces tried to free the three male hostages.
Palestinian sources claim that around 300 people were killed, suggesting that most of them were civilians. Israel has said civilians may have been killed in the fighting, but put the total number of casualties at fewer than 100, many of whom were terrorists.
“Our forces were hit with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine gun fire,” Mensah said. “Any civilian casualties during this evacuation are likely to have been caused by Hamas as well.”
He slammed “Hamas’s public relations machinery” for “immediately taking action and starting to talk about hundreds of civilian casualties.”
He continued: “Everyone should understand that the way Hamas is fighting will not save them. We will not allow Hamas to continue holding us hostage. We will always protect civilians, but we will stand up to this genocidal terrorist organization.”
Mensah confirmed reports that Israeli hostages had become slaves in Gaza and suffered hardships, including being forced to do labour for their captives’ relatives.
Asked about a possible separate effort by the United States to negotiate with Hamas through Qatar for the release of five hostages who are dual American-Israeli nationals, Mensah welcomed the idea.
“Israel has urged all countries to apply maximum pressure on Hamas to release all hostages,” he said.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He recently published an e-book,The Zionist Conspiracy (And How to Join It)” is available on Audible. He is also the author of an e-book. Not Free or Fair: The 2020 US Presidential ElectionHe is the recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship in 2018. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
