“This was intentional,” said U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib. “You don’t accidentally kill massive amounts of children and their families over and over again and get to say, ‘It was a mistake.'”
Palestine defenders on Monday blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for claiming the previous day’s bombing of a refugee camp in Gaza that killed at least 50 people and injured dozens more—many of them women and children—was a “tragic mistake.”
The attack on the tent encampment in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood—an Israeli-designated “safe zone” in the southern city of Rafah—ignited an inferno that burned people alive inside the tents in which they were sheltering. Graphic images showed charred and melted tents and bodies, including a small child whose head was missing.
Israeli officials—who habitually deny Israel Defense Forces (IDF) massacres—admitted to carrying out the strike, which they said killed two top Hamas members.
“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night, there was a tragic mistake,” Netanyahu told members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Monday. “We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”
However, critics were quick to refute the “mistake” narrative.
“This was intentional. You don’t accidentally kill massive amounts of children and their families over and over again and get to say, ‘It was a mistake,'” U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said in a social media post to President Joe Biden. “Genocidal maniac Netanyahu told us he wants to ethically cleanse Palestinians. When are you going to believe him, POTUS?”
Progressive U.S. lawmakers, human rights campaigners, and parties to the South Africa-led genocide case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are among those who have flagged what they call statements of genocidal intent by Israeli government and military officials. Netanyahu has likened Palestinians to the Amalekites, an ancient mythical foe of the Jews whom the God of the Hebrew Bible commanded the Israelites to exterminate. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Palestinians “human animals” while announcing the “complete siege” of Gaza.
Former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth said: “It stops being a ‘tragic mistake’ when the Israeli government keeps killing large numbers of Palestinian civilians. The problem is the rules of engagement that permit attacks with little regard for Palestinian civilians. Are they mere ‘human animals’?”
Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation, said on social media that “it wasn’t a ‘tragic mistake.’ It was genocidal policy.”
Netanyahu Under Fire After Calling Rafah Massacre a ‘Tragic Mistake’ added by Brett Wilkins | Common Dreams on
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