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Gideon Levy: Israelis don’t see ‘destruction’ in Gaza

The Israeli journalist says critics of the Gaza war condemned

The Israeli public ‘don’t see Gaza’ and ‘just condemn anyone who dares to criticise Israel’, columnist Gideon Levy has told the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.

A fierce critic for many decades of Israel’s policies on Palestinians, and of the current war in Gaza, Mr Levy told HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur that he wished images of the destruction in Gaza were presented to the Israeli public. ‘I wish more Israelis had at least watched the scenes of Gaza…I wish they would have seen more the children on the grounds of the hospitals, the starvation, the destruction. But none of this is presented here.’

Speaking from Tel Aviv, Mr Levy said he felt ‘a lot of sadness, depression, and also a sense of shame’ about the case being brought by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice. South Africa is accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in its war in Gaza. ‘I don’t know if legally it is a genocide, but it is a bloodbath. It is a terrible, terrible mass killing,’ Mr Levy said. ‘The Israelis don’t mind about the killing, they just mind about labelling it as genocide.’

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 24,000 people have been killed in the war. The campaign in Gaza began in response to the Hamas attack on October 7 that killed over 1,200 in Israel. More than 130 of the hostages abducted that day are still being held by Hamas.

Israel’s President Herzog has called the accusations of genocide ‘atrocious’ and ‘preposterous’ and Israel has accused South Africa of distorting the truth in the case. But Mr Levy said of Mr Herzog: ‘The same president who condemned the International Court of Justice in the Hague signed on a rocket aimed at Gaza… This bomb might have killed innocent women and children like most of the bombs did… So he’s signing on a bomb and condemning those who criticise it? That’s really shameful.’

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