From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Netanyahu to CNN: Gaza op measured, pinpointed
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GooglePrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel’s operation in Gaza has been “very measured” and “as pinpointed” as possible.
In an interview with CNN, the PM says Israel has “no choice” but to protect itself.
“The Hamas deliberately targets civilians and deliberately hides behind civilians. They embed the rocketeers, the rockets caches, their other weaponry from which they use to fire on us in civilian areas. What choice to we have? We have to protect ourselves. So we try to target the rocketeers, we do. And all civilian casualties are unintended by us, but actually intended by Hamas. They want to pile up as many civilian dead as they can, because somebody said, they use, I mean it’s gruesome, they use telegenically dead Palestinians for their cause. They want the more dead, the better,” he says.
Netanyahu add that Israel regrets and does not seek the deaths of Palestinian civilians but that the responsibility for the loss of life falls on Hamas.
“They use their civilians to protect their missiles. So against such a cynical, brutal, heartless enemy, we try to minimize civilian casualties. We try to target the military targets and unfortunately there are civilian casualties which we regret and we don’t seek. They all fall on the responsibility of Hamas, ” says Netanyahu.
The Times of Israel Community.