BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 8. Hamas has opened the war and Israel is going to close it, George Deek, Ambassador of Israel to Azerbaijan, said in an exclusive interview with Trend on October 8.
"October 7th will be remembered as the darkest day in Israel’s recent history. A war was launched by a surprise when Hamas terrorists launched rockets and invaded our towns in the south of Israel, in order to murder, rape, and kidnap our women, our sons and our daughters. There is a video from Gaza where a 4 year-old Israeli boy is being hit and mocked. He looked terrified, he just wanted to go home. Imagine your own four years old son snatched by terrorists. Imagine him begging for your help. While the timing was a surprise, the cruelty wasn’t," he said.
Deek pointed out that Hamas is a genocidal organization whose leaders openly speak about killing all Jews.
"It’s written in their charter. They teach their children to
hate Jews and rejoice at their death. This culture of hate is the
cause of this barbarism. In addition, let’s not forget that Hamas
isn’t working alone. It’s funder, backer and sponsor is Iran, a
country that is committed to annihilating my country and killing
all Israelis. We took note of Khamenei’s joyful tweets at the sight
of the dead bodies of our families. We will remember," added the
ambassador.
George Deek recalled that in the past his country had rounds of
violence with Hamas.
"We were hoping that they would be deterred, hoping that they would care more about helping the people in Gaza which they govern more than they would want to kill Jews. We allowed Gazans to come work in Israel, we eased export of Gaza’s agriculture products to Israel and the West Bank, and we even saved lives of people in Gaza in our hospitals. We were even in the process of helping Gaza to develop its offshore gas field, to ensure a livelihood for the people there. Sadly, Hamas hates us more than they love their people," he said.
The Israeli envoy noted that what happened today is
unprecedented in Israel – and it will not happen again, adding that
this time it’s not a round of violence, it’s not an operation, it’s
war.
He went on to add that the IDF will immediately use all its
strength to destroy Hamas's capabilities.
"We will destroy them and will forcefully avenge this dark day
that they have forced on Israel and its citizens.
Hamas took the initiative and opened this war. We are going to
close it," said George Deek.
Talking about the humanitarian situation in Israel, he noted that
the toll of this aggression is staggering, with 600 innocent
Israelis tragically losing their lives, over 100 individuals
abducted, and approximately 2,000 more bearing the physical and
emotional scars of injury.
"We have a nation of heroes, of lions. Fathers fought with their sons alone to fend of terrorists in Sderot. Warriors fought alone and killed many terrorists. Thanks to our heroes those numbers are not even higher. Israel, sadly, has a long experience of dealing with casualties of war. We are well prepared, and are able to take care of our injured. Our people live their lives, and we are gearing up towards a long, difficult and determined war, at the end of which we shall be victorious. Nothing less that total victory will be accepted. It is the innocent people of Gaza that I want to echo the words of Prime Minister Netanyahu: leave now, because we will operate forcefully," said the ambassador.
George Deek also shared his thoughts about how the international community should react.
"The international community should do three things: First, every country should issue a statement immediately that condemns Hamas and supports Israel. Any attempt to equate between Israel and Hamas with statements about “both-sides” is a moral outrage. This isn’t about choosing sides, it is about choosing right from wrong. A true friend of Israel would not hesitate. Second, the international community should clearly support Israel’s right of self-defense and its right to restore life in the south of Israel – not temporarily, but permanently. And third, it’s time we start believing our enemies. When Hamas says they want to kill Jews, believe them because they literally mean it. When Iran calls for the annihilation of Israel and the West, believe then because they mean it in the literal sense. Once we do that, the world will finally start acting accordingly. The international community should do all these three things. The rest we will do ourselves, because if there is one thing we learned from history, it’s that in the moment of truth you can only count on yourself," the ambassador concluded.
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