Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Palestinian civilians in Gaza were "responsible" for the Saturday attack by Hamas.
"It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians [being] not aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true," Herzog said Friday. "They could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’état."
"I agree there are many innocent Palestinians who don't agree with this, but if you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? We have to defend ourselves, we have the full right to do so," he added.
The Israeli president made the comments while calling for over 1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate in 24 hours. The evacuation was first announced to Gaza residents via leaflets from the Israel Defense Forces.
"Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the leaflets read. "This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made."
Hamas has told people in Gaza to ignore the evacuation order.
“Israel is removing Palestinians from their homes and lands for a second time, and we have responded to the Zionist crimes by targeting them and Ben Gurion,” Abu Obaida, spokesperson of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, said. "Displacement and exile are not for us, Israel is carrying out psychological warfare through the threats and their dark history, which shows they carry out crimes and killings as a form of collective punishment."
The United Nations has called the evacuation "impossible," due to the large number of people asked to leave the area, according to CNN. John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, called the evacuation a "tall order."
“We understand what they're trying to do: They're trying to move civilians out of harm's way and giving them fair warning. Now it's a tall order. It's a million people and very urban, dense environment. It's already a combat zone. So I don't think anybody's underestimating the challenge here of effecting that evacuation,” Kirby told CNN.
The war between Hamas and Israel started on Saturday when Hamas soldiers attacked Israel from Gaza. Hamas killed over 1,000 people and took over 100 hostages in that attack, according to NPR. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by many countries including the U.S., Israel and those in the European Union. Since the beginning of the war, Israel says Hamas killed 1,300 people. The Palestinian health ministry reports 1,800 killed in Gaza.
This is why they have meltdowns when you question them about civilian deaths. They don't believe in the concept.
Which makes it ten times 'funnier' when these liberal peckerwoods in the West want to pearl-clutch when we stop considering IDF reserve and ex-IDF as civilians in response. They're all trained as part of a conscription state; so I don't see any civilians in Israel except the children. Like I've been saying-- how these mayonoids react to Palestine and its struggle directly informs how they'll respond when the Black community has proper leaders again, instead of these sellout "Black capitalist" Toms, or the abject misleaders in the Congressional Black Caucus. What we're seeing Israel do in Palestine is a direct 1:1 with what Amerika did to the Natives and the Afrikans they stole.
These FIVE-EYES crackers fundamentally do not care about liberation. They just want revenge on those that responded logically to invader settler-colonials genociding them left and right to make room for themselves; and the threatened-into-compliance silence of those watching. Just like what the west is doing to Haiti, just like what they're doing to Cuba. They take bloody, brutal revenge on those who deny them.