NETANYAHU KNEW THE THREE ISRAELI BOYS DEATH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HAMAS

by Barry Grossman*

In an apparent attempt at damage control, it is now being widely reported that Israeli police have acknowledged that the tragedy was not a sanctioned Hamas operation. However, without offering evidence to support even this new scaled down claim, the authorities still maintain that the killings were carried out by a “lone cell” of individuals loosely associated with Hamas but who acted without direction or approval from the Hamas leadership. This too appears to be a thinly veiled effort to control the narrative.

In any case, the ugly cat is out of the bag. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu knew all along that the three teenagers’ death had nothing whatsoever to do with Hamas. All the mayhem, suffering and death which has followed is the price a calculating Netanyahu was prepared to pay in order to carry out his version of on the spot regime change in occupied Palestine. Netanyahu must be held to account and tried before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
But we can say that Netanyahu has been true to his word in one sense. He has used the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation as an excuse to “advance terror” without the slightest restraint.

SHOW US THE EVIDENCE!

On June 15th, Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel knew “for a fact” that the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers was the work of Hamas and held the Palestinian Authority responsible, arguing that the abduction proved that the world was wrong to accept the Palestinian government formed with Hamas’s consent.

Netanyahu said “Israel warned the international community about the dangers of endorsing the Fatah-Hamas unity pact,” and that “the dangers of that pact should now be abundantly clear to all.” Speaking in English to galvanize international attention, he drove home his deluded but prescient point by saying: “This will not advance peace; it will advance terror.”

At the time, information about gunshots reported at the scene of the tragedy which resulted in death for the three Israeli teenagers and a desperate last phone call by one of the 3 victims was widely known in the media, but the Israeli government issued a gag order biting the publishing of these facts.

Netanyahu provided no evidence that the teenagers were indeed abducted or that Hamas was to blame. Hamas denied its involvement.
On the pretence of searching for teenagers already considered dead by the authorities, extensive raids were launched across the West Bank. Despite Netanyahu’s public claims, the aim of these raids was to locate and arrest Hamas supporters and ultimately to break up the recent formed unity government between Hamas and Fatah, which Israel has vigorously opposed.

Netanyahu whipped the settler population into marauding bands of vigilantes chanting “death to all Arabs,” leading to numerous random attacks on Palestinians. By 26th June, a reported 566 people had been detained, 6 were shot dead, 120 wounded, 2 elderly people died of heart attacks during IDF raids and more than 1,200 homes were searched. A few days later 16 year old Mohammed Abu Khder was abducted by three orthodox Jews and, after a brutal beating with a tyre iron, burned alive with petrol, from the inside out.

It later emerged that Netanyahu was aware from the start that there had been no abduction and that the so-called missing teenagers were dead. But this critical news was not reported in the mainstream press, which instead was concentrating on whipping up public opinion to sell the Israeli narrative and whip public support for the growing offensive against Palestinians.

Operation Protective Edge

On 7 July, Israel announced the launch of “Operation Protective Edge” an offensive operation that would see Gaza hit by hundreds of air strikes in the coming days.

“We are entering into a long operation. This is only the start,” a senior IDF official said, according to one a report, adding that: “We are preparing to increase ground forces on Gaza border.”

With more than 1,000 dead, over 5,000 injured and vast swaths of public infrastructure devastated in Gaza, I say to Bibi Netanyahu, show us the evidence! Show us the proof that made you so certain that Hamas was responsible for abducting and murdering three Israeli teenagers, not that doing so would in any way justify this orgy of sadistic, collective punishment against oppressed people for daring to exercise their legitimate right to resist their occupiers.

Meanwhile, we can say that Netanyahu has been true to his word in one sense. he has used the Hamas-Fatah coalition as an excuse to “advance terror” without the slightest restraint.

A new picture has now emerged in recent days of the tragedy which was at the very least hijacked by Netanyahu to whip up enthusiasm for his plan to take down Hamas.

In an apparent attempt at damage control, it is now being widely reported that Israeli police have acknowledged that the tragedy was not a sanctioned Hamas operation. However, without offering evidence to support even this new scaled down claim, the authorities still maintain that the killings were carried out by a “lone cell” of individuals loosely associated with Hamas but who acted without direction or approval from the Hamas leadership. This too appears to be a thinly veiled effort to control the narrative.

In any case, the ugly cat is out of the bag. Netanyahu knew all along that the three teenagers’ death had nothing whatsoever to do with Hamas. All the mayhem, suffering and death which has followed is the price a calculating Netanyahu was prepared to pay in order to carry out his version of on the spot regime change in occupied Palestine.

Now Mr. Netanyahu must be held to account and tried before the ICC. (T/BG/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

(from: various sources)

*Barry Grossman is an international lawyer. He received his B.Comm. from the University of Calgary in 1984 and an LLB from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 1987. After working as a litigator at a major commercial law firm in Toronto, he was recruited to teach at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Law in Australia. He later worked for several years as a commercial litigation consultant to the national firm of Freehill, Hollingdale & Page before later taking up a full time lectureship at Monash University’s Faculty of Law. Mr. Grossman has written extensively on various legal subjects and is a frequent commentator on political affairs. He is often interviewed by Press TV and Sahar TV.He has resided in Indonesia since 1999 and spent long periods of time in several countries, including Germany, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia and Thailand. Mr. Grossman is a Muslim.

This article was written for the Indonesian based international news service, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as requested by MINA Deputy Editor-in-Chief II, Syarif Hidayat. 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of MINA.