Israel MK: ‘We should not apologise for assassinating terrorists’

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett has condemned the official army response to the bombing of a Gaza tunnel which killed seven people, stating: “We should not apologise for assassinating terrorists”, the Jerusalem Post reported this morning.

A “controlled explosion” implemented by Israeli occupying forces last night also wounded 12 people, one of whom remains in a serious condition in hospital. The army responded to the blast by alleging that they had not meant to kill anyone in the tunnel, a statement slammed by Bennett.

Whilst Bennett said that “he is not promoting escalation”, he reiterated that he fully supports Israel’s policy of destroying Gazan tunnels and that such a move did not warrant any clarification from the military.

Likud MK Oren Hazan also condemned the army’s statement, sarcastically noting that if the army did not intend to kill Palestinians in Gaza, then they should build a new tunnel as compensation.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed last night’s attack citing it as necessary for the defence of Israel.

“Those who try to harm us, we harm them … Today we detected a tunnel and destroyed it and we will continue to do so.”

Israel destroyed 32 tunnels during the 2014 war with Gaza and has since prioritised the destruction of any new digging.

Tunnels that link the Gaza Strip to Egypt have provided a vital lifeline to the two million Palestinians in Gaza who have been living under the Israeli-imposed blockade since 2007. Tunnels in to Israel have allowed Gazans to access jobs as unemployment in the Strip reaches nearly 50 per cent as a result of the blockade.

Israel’s latest aggression comes against the backdrop of the Palestinian reconciliation. Hamas is due to handover official control of the Strip to the Palestinian Authority on 1 December. Israel has warned that it will not accept a unity government that includes Hamas if it does not disarm and recognise the country as a Jewish state.

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