Hamas must opt for diplomacy by returning hostages from the Gaza Strip and relinquishing power, otherwise, Israel will take control of the Palestinian enclave, Israel’s Ambassador to India Reuven Azar told India Today TV on Wednesday.
His remarks came after Israel pummelled Gaza with massive airstrikes, which left over 400 dead. The strikes, the deadliest in the past two months, shattered a nearly two-month-old ceasefire that began in January, with Israel blaming Hamas for rejecting proposals to secure a ceasefire extension.
Azar said Israel had been waiting for a “long time” for Hamas to release the remaining hostages. He justified the military pressure on the Palestinian group to achieve a diplomatic solution to end the war.
“We cannot continue with the situation in which they have their hostages and they are not releasing them. We decided to go back to push military pressure in order to get our hostages back and get a diplomatic solution to this conflict,” he said.
“They (Hamas) have two options: If they don’t cooperate with diplomacy, bring back the hostages, leave the Gaza Strip, we will have to go in, take over the territory and be in charge of humanitarian assistance ourselves,” he said.
The envoy said Israel would help to transfer power to a more moderate leadership and international stakeholders that will be able to help the people of Gaza.
When asked if Israel was creating a large buffer zone or asking people to leave the Gaza Strip completely, Azar replied, saying, “No.”
“Israel is not asking the Palestinians to leave Gaza completely. What we are doing is we are creating the conditions that if Hamas doesn’t accept the American proposals, we are going to take over the territory. We are going to clean up the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Israel had agreed to a US proposal to extend the temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramzan and Passover periods, a move rejected by Hamas. The US proposal had come just hours after the first phase of the truce deal that came into effect on January 19 was to expire on March 2.
He said Israel consulted with the US before going ahead with the massive Gaza airstrikes. He warned Hamas that it would face the “full might” of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) if the group refused to leave the Palestinian enclave.
“If you want to have stability in our region, you have to defeat the radicals. You have to get the radicals to understand that they cannot continue threatening people in the region,” he said.
The Ambassador said that the over 400 people who died in the airstrikes were Hamas terrorists and accused the group of using humans as shields to protect themselves.
“Unfortunately, the Hamas leaders are hiding behind civilians. They are taking out their uniforms. They are blending into the civilian population and using them as human shields,” he said.
Azar asserted that Hamas were not only holding the Israeli hostages captive but “the entire Palestinian population in Gaza, who deserved a better future”.
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