War against Hamas
Israeli politician reiterates demand: burn down Gaza
A column of smoke rises into the air after a bombardment in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip
© AFP
An Israeli politician has again called for the Gaza Strip to be burned down. There is great outrage over the statement made earlier by the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Nissim Vaturi.
One day before a hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the Gaza war and genocide allegations against An Israeli politician has once again called on Israel to burn down Gaza. The right-wing Knesset member from the ruling Likud party, Nissim Vaturi, defended his now deleted post on the online platform X (formerly Twitter) in an interview with the radio station Kol Barama on Wednesday morning. Almost a month and a half ago, Vaturi wrote: “Burn Gaza now and nothing less!”
In the radio interview, Vaturi said that he does not regret his X-post that he wrote in November and stands by his words. “I said ‘burn down Gaza’. Burn down, what does that mean? Go in and tear it up.”
Nissim Vaturi is Deputy Speaker of Parliament
Vaturi was referring to the October 7 massacre by the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups in which 1,200 people were killed in Israel. “They came and burned us, our children,” he said.
According to Vaturi, there are no longer any civilians in the combat areas in the sealed-off coastal strip. These were evacuated. There are still 100,000 people there, but he doesn’t think there are any innocent people there anymore.
Israeli politician’s statement sparks outrage
Vaturi is also a deputy speaker of parliament. His comments caused a furor. Many users reacted to the radio interview on social media. The timing of his words in particular sparked outrage.
The hearing in South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel begins on Thursday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. South Africa’s government accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.