Israel claims to have “at least two or three more days of fighting”

On the ninth day of the confrontation with the forces of the group Hamas, who have already caused the deaths of more than 200 Palestinians and a dozen Israelis, the Israeli Defense Forces (FDI) said on Tuesday that although the possible ceasefire will eventually be “A political decision”, from a military point of view, they believe they still have “For another two or three days of fighting” even neutralizing the firepower of the Islamist organization that controls the Gaza Strip.

“The IDF Commander-in-Chief, Major General Aviv Kohavi, said that we at least for two or three more days of fightingIDF reserve spokesman Roni Kaplan said.

During a joint press conference via Zoom for Latin American media, organized by the agency Prensa Latina and the Histadrut International Institute -in which LA NACION participated-, Kaplan appeared with Ambassador Edwin Yabo, representing of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, to which they addressed the development of the conflict and the uneven global reaction where many governments have not explicitly condemned Hamas’s attacks on Israel. “The innocent are not always the ones who have the most victims”Yabo warns.

“Israel’s military objective is to minimize the firing capacity of Hamas and the Palestinian Jihad. In the attacks on the network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip, called the ‘metro“We have already destroyed tens of kilometers. Inside there were weapons and terrorists. We also feel that we have eliminated about 140 militants and 25 military leaders of the organization. But the ceasefire is a political decision, ”Kaplan said.

The spokesperson estimated that despite the fact that Hamas has already fired some 3,600 rockets at Israel since the confrontation began on Monday, it still has about 12,000 rockets, “a lot more than most Latin American armies.”. In this, Hamas has invested the economic aid received from Qatar and other countries, ”he said.

Kaplan also raised the complaint about the Israeli attack on United Nations schools. The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Organization (UNRWA) estimates that there are currently some 38,000 displaced civilians in Gaza who have sought refuge in United Nations schools. “WE We reached the position of ten Hamas activists at a UN school on Saturday. They only used this school as a shield, there were no refugees, what were the Hamas terrorists doing there? “Asked the spokesperson.

Ambassador Yabo stressed that “Hamas is trying to present this as a confrontation against the Arab people or between Jews and Muslims. But our fight is against a terrorist organization that attacks us. This is why this does not jeopardize our recent agreements to resume relations with several Arab countries. They understand that the fight is not against the Palestinian people, ”said the representative of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Regarding the solidarity that the struggle of the Palestinians and Hamas against Israel can arouse, Yabo stressed that “the media discussion tends to turn conflicts into a macabre competition over the death toll. There is a tendency to think that whoever has the most victims and who is the weakest is the innocent. But it’s not always like that. I would recommend that you read the Geneva Convention on what is a war crime and see, for example, that Hamas continues to fire at Israel, despite the fact that some 500 missiles have failed and landed in their own territory and caused the death of 25. civilians. But they don’t care, ”Yabo said.

The ambassador also refused to accept the comparison an Argentine journalist made of the parallelism of the Falklands War, which initially allowed to add support for the military junta in power, and the political advantages that this conflict could bring to the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The Falklands were a conflict launched by the Argentine army. In our case, this is not a confrontation born or initiated by Israel. In addition, the political discussion is not as polarized in our country, and for the whole population, the defense of the State of Israel is always above any special interest, ”said Yabo.

In relationship with Latin America, the ambassador also asserted that the region should not ignore the threat posed by Islamic extremism.

“The Middle East arrived in Latin America a long time ago. Across the continent, there are groups linked to Islamic extremism who, for now, are smuggling drugs and counterfeit dollars. This is why it is important that Latin America be attentive to what is happeningYabo concludes.

THE NATION

Conocé The Trust Project