Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City on Friday, July 18
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israeli military was prepared for a "significant expansion" of its ground offensive into Gaza.
At the receiving end of criticism from across the globe on the high number of civilian casualties following its air strikes on Gaza, Israel sought to put forth it's side of the conflict. Speaking to NDTV, Minister Yahel Vilan, Deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Israel, called the conflict unnecessary.
"We are not asking for this," he said, adding, "We were waiting for many days and many rockets were launched on our population. We are doing our utmost to protect our people. 1500 rockets have been fired over 10 days. We are doing what any other govt would have done."
Asked how Israel could continue with its airstrikes after UN estimates said 80 per cent of those who have died were civilians, Minister Vilan insisted, "Numbers don't tell the story. While Israel warns its people and tells them to run to shelters, Hamas tells them to run to the rooftops and uses them as shields for its leaders. If the other side had done 20 per cent more than what they have done no civilian would have got killed," he says. "They are doing this to show to the world the casualties."
Just a couple of days ago, the poignant tale of the four young cousins playing soccer on the beach who died after Israeli airstrikes, made headlines across the world. Minister Vilan regretted the loss of innocents civilians but felt Tel Aviv's fears were not unfounded. "Yesterday, the UN found 20 rockets in a school (in Gaza). We give them warnings." But when asked where residents of Gaza could run to safety, given how narrow, populated Gaza was, he replied, "Hamas doesn't want to keep its people safe to use this politically. We want peace, but when Israel agreed to the six hour ceasefire on Wednesday, they were firing rockets. We are not trying to aim at Hamas, we are just protecting our citizens."
The reality is that that has come at a bloody cost that's still being counted.