Hamas "plays" with Gaza's death toll to spread misinformation, mount international pressure: Israeli Ambassador Naor Gilon

"There are two main targets of this operation...The first one is to make sure that Hamas does not control Gaza anymore, it does not have the ability to build its force in Gaza in order to attack Israel. The second is to bring back the hostages," Gilon said in the exclusive interview with ANI.

Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, said that Israel, through its ongoing operation in Gaza, wants to ensure that Hamas doesn't control the strip anymore and is not in a position to attack Tel Aviv again. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Gilon also alleged that Hamas in its attempt to mount international pressure on Israel manipulated casualty figures to spread misinformation and propaganda. The Israeli envoy has raised questions on the estimated death toll announced by the Hamas run Health ministry in Gaza and alleged that Hamas "plays" with the numbers to mount international pressure on Israel.

The outgoing Israeli envoy termed the October 7, 2023 attack when Hamas stormed across the border into Israeli communities as the "worst thing" against the Jewish community since the Holocaust. "It's the worst thing that happened to Jewish people since the Holocaust in second World War. On October 7 morning, it was a Jewish holiday...there was infiltration of Hamas terrorists, thousands of them to 20 Jewish communities around Israel. They murdered 1200 people on the way, they raped, they burned people alive...Now, we are in a situation, where still 120 people held hostage, some of them are dead," Gilon said.

Over 2000 Hamas terrorists breached Israeli borders on October 7, killing 1200 Israelis and taking around 250 as hostages, out of whom around 120 still are in Hamas captivity, with many of them feared dead. Following this, Israel launched a strong counteroffensive, carrying out military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with the aim of "completely eliminating" the group.

The Israeli envoy emphasised his country through its operation in Gaza Strip wants to ensure that it is able to safely bring back all the people who were taken as hostages and also ensure that Hamas, which Israel and some EU nations have designated as a terror organization, wont be able to attack again. An estimated over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli operation in Gaza. This has led to international criticism of Israel, and mounting calls for reaching a ceasefire.

Asked about Israel's stance on a potential ceasefire deal, Gilon said that Hamas intentionally doesn't want to finalise a hostage deal since doing so will mean that it will not have any "human shields" after that. "There are two main targets of this operation...The first one is to make sure that Hamas does not control Gaza anymore, it does not have the ability to build its force in Gaza in order to attack Israel. The second is to bring back the hostages," Gilon said in the exclusive interview with ANI.

"We were able to, through military operation, release a few (hostages). The biggest tranche was released through a deal with Hamas, with international countries mediating. Now, we are discussing another deal. The main problem from Hamas point of view is that if they give up the hostages, they are afraid they don't have any human shield anymore," the envoy said. Responding to the criticism about "collateral damage" in the military offensive, the Israeli envoy asserted that while Tel Aviv wanted to minimise civilian casualties it was Hamas that hid behind civilian population.

"I don't know what is collateral damage...I think the goal has to be achieved. Collateral damage, we are trying to minimize anyhow...our biggest problem is Gaza is the most densely populated area in the world. Secondly, Hamas had the tactic, doing something to Israel...and hide behind the civilian population. From their point of view, any Palestinian dying, is someone else creating pressure on Israel to stop the war. That's what they are aiming at doing," the Israeli Ambassador said. Gilon also put a question mark on the death toll provided by the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, and claimed that Hamas did not differentiate between terrorists and civilians, and every casualty was counted as a civilian.

"We have conflicting interests. Ridiculously, while we have the interest in protecting the Palestinian population, they (Hamas) have the interest of not protecting them, and on contrary sacrificing them," he said. "The only figures we get of the dead are the figures given by so called Ministry of Health of Hamas in Gaza...for them everyone is a civilian, they never differentiate terrorists and civilians. From their point of view, everyone dead is a civilian," Gilon added.

"The figures they are playing with, we have to take that into account," the Ambassador stated. During his July 24 address to a joint session of the US Congress, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "That's why despite all the lies you've heard, the war in Gaza has one of the lowest ratios of combatants to noncombatants casualties in the history of urban warfare."

Gilon has been serving as the Israel Ambassador to India since 2021. His tenure will come to an end in August this year. Last month, the Israel Embassy in India hosted a farewell dinner to honour the departing diplomats, including Ambassador Gilon.

Speaking on the occasion, Gilon called it an "honour" to represent Israel in India. He stressed that the bond between Israel and India is "unique" and built on shared values and mutual respect. (ANI)

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