Ex-premier Olmert: What Israel ‘is doing now in Gaza is very close to a war crime’

21 May 2025, 12:38 am 7 Edit

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert testifies during a hearing of the civil investigative committee on the October 7 massacre, in Tel Aviv, August 8, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert claims that what Israel “is doing now in Gaza, is very close to a war crime.”

Speaking with the BBC, Olmert describes the ongoing conflict as “a war without a purpose — a war without a chance of achieving anything that can save the lives of the hostages.”

He also says the “obvious appearance” of the fighting in Gaza is that thousands of Palestinian civilians are being killed, along with a lot of Israeli troops.

“From every point of view, this is obnoxious and outrageous,” Olmert declares.

“We are fighting the killers of Hamas, we are not fighting innocent civilians,” he continues. “And that has to be clear.”