Hamas uses the press and civilians as shields, so it was necessary to bomb the building that houses press vehicles such as the US Associated Press news agency and Qatari TV Al Jazeera, said Major Roni Kaplan, a door – speech of the Defense of Israel (IDF). .
From Tel Aviv, Kaplan told Folha that the Islamic group had set up its intelligence office in the building where the international press was located precisely to defend its armaments and military capabilities. The spokesperson, however, said that at no time was there any danger to the journalists, who had been warned before the attack and therefore left the building before it was destroyed by Israel.
After interrupting the interview due to rocket warning sirens, which forced him to take refuge in a bunker, Kaplan denied that his country had used disproportionate force. In six days of fighting, there were 10 dead in Israel and 148 in Gaza. Among the dead are ten members of the same Palestinian family – 8 children and 2 women – who lived in a refugee camp.
“We were trying to attack one of the main Hamas leaders, who according to our information belonged to this family. We don’t know if we managed to hit him. Regarding the civilian victims, we cry for the victims, we do not intend to kill a child. “
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The Israeli army bombed and destroyed the building where the offices of several press vehicles were located in Gaza City, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. Why was the building attacked and how can we ensure the safety of journalists covering the conflict? A joint command of Islamic Jihad and Hamas operated in the building. This is exactly the intention of this type of organization: to stay in the middle of the press. But before we reached the building, where Hamas was organizing information used to attack Israel and had machinery to make weapons, we called the Associated Press and Al Jazeera and asked them to evacuate the building. Then we fired again so everyone could retire. From 6 p.m. on Monday [10], Hamas launched 2,400 rockets at the Israeli population. And when Hamas launches rockets, it does not call to warn them first.
Hamas launches rockets from civilian centers, residential areas, schools, hospitals. That’s why we say they use civilians as human shields. Every rocket launched by Hamas is intended to assassinate Israelis. If they succeeded in reaching the goal, it would be horrible. At least 85 Hamas officials have been killed in recent attacks, in addition to dozens of Islamic Jihadists. Between 20 and 25 civilians died in attacks by Hamas itself, from rockets falling in the Gaza Strip, due to technical problems.
There are reports that 148 were killed in Gaza and 10 in Israel. We don’t know exactly how many were killed, as the one reporting these numbers is Hamas’s health ministry. Hamas does not follow any kind of human rights orientation, it is a movement recognized as terrorist by the international community. The targets chosen by Israel go through all branches of the military, so they are legal targets from the point of view of international law.
Hamas says that among the victims in Gaza there are 41 children. I can neither confirm nor deny what Hamas is saying, I do not have these figures. The difference is that Israel attacks military targets, terrorists and Hamas attacks civilian targets. Israel uses all of its systems, sirens, the Iron Dome, the bunkers, to protect its civilian population. Hamas uses the civilian population and the press in Gaza to defend its armaments and military capabilities. We’ve seen this for six days.
Isn’t there a disproportionate use of force by Israel? Given the intention to use force, this is disproportionate on Hamas’s part. If Hamas could do what it is trying, it would kill thousands of people. The difference is in the results, which have to do with Israel’s investments in defense and its capacity for military counterattacks. Hamas attacks civilians, Israel has no intention of killing civilians. We operate with the utmost care to avoid damage to civilians.
The Israeli attacks killed ten members of a Palestinian family in a refugee camp, eight children and two women. We were trying to attack one of the main Hamas leaders, who according to our information belonged to this family. We do not know if we were successful in achieving this. As for the civilian victims, we cry for the victims, we do not intend to kill a child. The other day we attacked terrorists inside a school. There was no one else at school. But my question is, what did the terrorists do inside the school? We defend ourselves against terrorists.
Spokesman Jonathan Conricus told the international press that Israeli troops were entering the Gaza Strip. The foreign press reported, but the troops are not entering the territory. The spokesman said it was a mistake, but the Israeli press said the foreign media had been deceived and used by the IDF to trick Hamas into believing there was a land invasion. I was in the same place as him at the time. Spokesman Conricus is my supervisor, someone I have known for at least 20 years. At this point Jonathan and I were looking at the computer, seeing that Division 162, which has two infantry brigades, was approaching the border. He couldn’t see well and we thought he was already inside. He told reporters. He was wrong. And a letter of apology was issued.
Why did it take more than two hours to complete the correction? Did the correction take more than two hours? In fact, I don’t see why it took so long to correct. I was in talks with Mexico and other countries 15 minutes later and I was already saying that Israel had not entered Gaza. It was 3 am. I don’t know why it took hours to correct.
According to a New York Times article, spokesman Conricus admitted that the military had a strategy to deceive Hamas and make it more exposed. Was it part of the strategy to deceive the international press? From all I know and can share with you, it was Jonathan’s mistake and it was not at all a way of using the press as a mechanism to fight Hamas. Telling the press the truth is all we have. It is possible that Israel will enter the Gaza Strip. We understand that this is not an imminent decision and it is not a military decision. It is a political decision. Politicians decide, we operationalize.
When will military operations stop? We want the peace of our people. We understand that the only way to achieve this, to achieve stability, is to deter Hamas, to deter terrorists. Helping them understand that the next time they consider launching six more rockets in the middle of the most important day of the year, think 15 times.
On Wednesday (12), President Jair Bolsonaro expressed his support for Israel, saying that “it is absolutely unjustifiable to launch indiscriminate rockets against Israeli territory”. How do they receive this support from Bolsonaro? For us, as an army, nothing changes, it is more a question for the ambassador. Of course, receiving support is good, not because Bolsonaro is. We are trying here to maximize the damage to terrorists, to minimize the damage to civilians in the Gaza Strip, and to protect the Israeli population. And what the president of Brazil, Australia, wherever he is, says is the business of diplomats.