Ofer Cassif says he warned the situation would ‘erupt’ if Israel did not change its treatment of Palestinians.
A lawmaker from Israel said to Al Jazeera that their party had cautioned that incidents like Saturday’s Hamas attack on Israel might happen if the government kept occupying Palestinian lands unlawfully. On Saturday morning, Hamas launched a major attack, firing many rockets at Israel and sending their fighters into Israeli towns and settlements in Gaza.
The attack resulted in at least 600 Israelis, including many soldiers, losing their lives. Their bodies were scattered on the roads. At the same time, in the besieged Gaza area, over 313 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 1,700 others were injured due to Israeli bombings.
Ofer Cassif, a member of the Knesset from the leftist Hadash coalition, cautioned that this situation would escalate if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government didn’t change its approach towards Palestinians. Hadash has four seats in the 120-member Knesset.
Cassif stated that they condemn any attack on innocent civilians, both Israelis and Palestinians. He emphasized that to understand these terrible events, one must consider the ongoing occupation.
He also pointed out that they had been warning about this for a long time, predicting that things would escalate, and everyone, especially innocent civilians on both sides, would suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, this prediction came true.
Cassif described the Israeli government as a fascist one that supports, encourages, and leads attacks against Palestinians. He mentioned an ongoing process of ethnic cleansing. He emphasized that the signs were clear, written in the suffering of Palestinians, and now, sadly, also affecting Israelis.
Additionally, more than 20,000 Palestinians have left the border region of Gaza to find safety in UN schools further inside the territory controlled by Hamas, according to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
SOURCE:ALJAZEERA