New York [US], October 23 : A former European Union envoy to Gaza has been chastised for allegedly enabling Hamas to use paragliders, the same devices used by them to invade Israel and kill over 1,400 people there, the New York Post reported.
In July, German diplomat Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, in a video, boasted that he was undertaking "the first Gaza paragliding flight in history" as he soared above Gaza's coast while chanting, "Free Palestine!"
In the video, the ecstatic then-EU official tells Palestinians, "You can do exactly the same thing," according to the New York Post.
Months later, on October 7, Hamas terrorists used such gliders and invaded Israel, killing thousands of innocent people, including women, children, men and the elderly.
Israel has since declared war on Hamas and launched a counter-offensive on Gaza.
The former ambassador found himself in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war argument after a video of him flying over Gaza in July surfaced on social media, stating Palestinians could enjoy activities like paragliding and kayaking if Israel lifted its siege.
"It cannot be that Israel has carte blanche because terrible acts, cruel and shocking acts happened to 1,000 or even 1,200 Israelis," von Burgsdorff said during a recent radio interview, adding "This is not the excuse you can use to flatten Gaza," reported New York Post.
"It cannot be that Israel is threatening to bomb corridors and shipments carrying humanitarian equipment. It cannot be. It is another war crime if it happens," he added.
At the time, Israel's Foreign Ministry blasted the show as "provocative" propaganda that only served to bolster Hamas.
"The European diplomat forgot a long time ago that he represents the European Union and its member states," the ministry said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
Meanwhile, as a "ground offensive" of the besieged Gaza Strip looms, hundreds of Israeli tanks are deployed near the border in south Israel presently, waiting for the all-clear from the country's political establishment and the military top brass.
Israeli tanks and troops mounted on armoured vehicles were deployed in the region, seeming to suggest that a ground assault on Hamas in their backyard, Gaza, could begin any time soon.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has characterized Israel's ongoing war with Hamas as an existential battle against the "forces of darkness."
He has equated the fight against Hamas with a struggle between the "forces of light" representing humanity and the "forces of darkness" embodying animalism,The Times of Israel reported. He emphasized that the main objective was to secure victory over Hamas.
"Even with the passage of 75 years, the war of independence hasn't ended," the Prime Minister told Israel's Parliament Knesset at the opening session of its winter session.
"We will win because our existence here is at stake," he said while likening Hamas to Nazi Germany and calling the conflict "a war between forces of light and forces of darkness, between humanity and animalism."
Netanyahu said that "our goal is victory over Hamas, toppling it from its rule, ten days after the terror group stormed Israel and massacred thousands of people.
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