On Monday, the 6th of November, the Israeli embassy in Latvia gathered representatives of Latvian mass media to demonstrate to them a 43-minute video, showing footage from the 7th October attack on Israel.
According to the Israeli embassy, the footage is from Hamas terrorists’ body cameras and Israel’s own video surveillance systems, victims’ car cameras, as well as footage from posts on social media from Hamas and their victims.
Israel’s ambassador to Latvia Sharon Rappaport Palgi told the media the footage does not indicate that it is a fight for Palestine.
The materials presented to Latvian mass media representatives also included recorded phone conversations. For example, in one of them some terrorist tells his parents he is a hero because he has killed people with his own hands. In a video there is an injured man on the ground and a Hamas terrorist trying to decapitate him. In a different piece of video footage a person, presumably a child, is being killed.
All this indicates not a fight for Palestine, rather just cold-blooded murder, stressed the Israeli diplomat.
According to the Israeli ambassador, it is estimated there are 35 000 to 40 000 terrorists in the Gaza Strip. They are permanent residents of the Gaza Strip. She said Hamas has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007, when the Palestinian government was driven from it.
According to the Israeli diplomat, residents of the Gaza Strip are radicalised.
“People say that Gaza residents have nothing to do with this war. But you saw from the video footage that residents of Gaza Strip are happy about what’s happening. They take photos and spit at people. Once the fence was destroyed on the 7th of October, people rushed into Israel on motorcycles, bicycles. These were young people and older people. They came to steal money, kill and rape,” she said.
Rappaport Palgi stressed that the north of Gaza Strip is the main centre for Hamas operations. This area contains the largest number of headquarters and munition stores. According to the diplomat, underneath Gaza there are Hamas tunnels, which go under hospitals as well. Although there are still civilians in the northern parts of Gaza, most civilians have fled to the south. She said the plan is to keep this area surrounded and fight against terrorism. To do this, Israeli troops will have to go inside these tunnels.
“All of us understand the price for this war will be high for Israel as well. But we don’t see any other way. We cannot allow this murderous terrorist organisation to remain alive near our border. We have to completely destroy Hamas and make sure they have no way to attack again,” said the Israeli ambassador to Latvia.
Rappaport Palgi mentioned that the priority is fighting terrorists in Gaza. At the same time, civilians are allowed passage to the south, where they will be able to receive humanitarian aid. More than 526 trucks with humanitarian aid have delivered aid to Gaza so far. There is no shortage of water, medicine and food. But there is a shortage of fuel, said the Israeli ambassador.
“The shortage of fuel is because Hamas uses fuel to light tunnels. And there needs to be ventilation as well. Fuel is needed to do all this. Hamas stole from UNRWA more than ten million litres of fuel. Every two days fuel is provided to hospitals, because Hamas maintains tension that hospitals could collapse at any moment. But hospitals continue to functions with the small amount of fuel provided by Hamas,” said Rappaport Palgi.
Looking at he situation after the 7th of October, the Israeli ambassador said that residents of Gaza Strip that worked in Israel provided terrorists with a lot of useful information. Every day approximately 20 000 people arrive from Gaza to Israel every day. Rappaport Palgi stressed that Iran is involved in this war, and the country provides terrorists with money using charity organisations. Iran also has a way to transport people from the Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli diplomat, people think Gaza Strip is a closed enclave, but people keep traveling to and from it; people with dual-citizenship; people who travel through Egypt and other countries. “Gaza Strip is not as locked down as it may seem. There are tunnels that lead to Israel and Egypt. All kinds of contraband goods are transported using those tunnels. Yes, people are trafficked as well,” said the Israeli diplomat.
When asked if the Israeli Ministry of Defence has information as to how many victims this war has created in the Gaza Strip, the diplomat claimed she does not have any estimates. She said that every time the Gaza Ministry of Health or Gaza Ministry of the Interior is mentioned,
they provide information from Hamas, which is in control there.
“It is possible Hamas exaggerates the number of victims. Israel says it is safe to travel to the south of Gaza Strip, but Hamas doesn’t allow people to leave. They are impeding the whole process,” said the ambassador.
“When you see victims in Gaza Strip, keep in mind that
most of those victims were caused by Hamas,
who do not allow people to leave, using them as human shields. People want to hide in the tunnels, bu their leaders say they are intended for Hamas,” said the ambassador.
When asked who supplies Hamas with arms, the Israeli diplomat said she has no clear picture as to where weapons are coming from, but they are brought in via smuggling all the time.
The main supplier is Iran, but
what is happening in the Gaza Strip is controlled by Qatar.
As for what could happen to the Gaza Strip in the future, the Israeli ambassador said the outlook is blurry, because there is a long way until Hamas is destroyed. She stressed that it’s not a matter of one week, two weeks or a month. She allowed that one outcome is Gaza may return under Palestinian rule, but it’s also possible that some international force could be stationed there as well.
“We have to liquidate Hamas. Only then will we be able to think about the way Gaza Strip will be controlled. But it’s clear it cannot continue the way it has until now. It won’t happen. We won’t allow it,” said the ambassador.
She said is is possible the situation could escalate: [Lebanese Islamist military organisation] Hezbollah fires missiles at Israel every day. Yemen’s Houthi has fired on Israels southern territories four times. They have said they will join the conflict. Iraqi militants are gathering on the border with Jordan, because it is a direct route to Israel. They have voiced their intentions to cross the border and join their brothers. There is a possibility of this war escalating.
“We don’t communicate with Hamas. Qatar communicates with Hamas, and they communicate with us. The Red Cross has been allowed access to the hostages so far. We want someone to meet and have a look at them, if they are OK. We don’t even know if they are even alive,” said the Israeli ambassador.
Also read: Latvian expert says non-publication of Hamas atrocities is Israel’s mistake
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