Israel names retired general as government lead for missing persons

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed reserve Brigadier General Gal Hirsch on Sunday as the government’s lead on missing citizens following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood launched by Hamas on Saturday. According to Netanyahu’s office, all government ministries will be subject to his instructions on this matter.

The Times of Israel and other media outlets explained that General Hirsch commanded the 91st Division in the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

READ: Israel expert: Are we allowed to be arrogant without paying a price?

The Hamas operation targeted Israeli military sites and settlements near the besieged Gaza Strip in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem by illegal Jewish settlers, as well as increased levels of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The suffocating siege that has been imposed on Gaza by Israel and its allies for 17 years was also apparently a factor taken into consideration by the Islamic Resistance Movement.

By way of retaliation, Israel launched Operation Swords of Iron against Gaza, with aircraft bombing the besieged territory, one of the most overcrowded places in the world. As a result, said the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza today, nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed and over 2,200 others have been injured by Israeli air strikes on residential areas. In Israel, the authorities put the death toll of Israeli citizens at 800.

OPINION: End Israel’s brutal military occupation, and legitimate resistance won’t be necessary