Former vice prime minister of Israel, Tzipi Livni, says Israel is not responsible for civilian casualties in northern Gaza after Israel issued evacuation orders to about one million Gazans.
Key points:
- Inhabitants in Gaza’s north have been warned by Israel to leave for their own safety
- 600,000 people have already made the journey south to the Rafah border passage
- Tzipi Livni says Hamas is responsible for people killed by Israeli weapons
“We asked people to leave. We hope that Hamas will not keep them as human shields,” Ms Livni told ABC’s 7.30.
“They (Hamas) are asking their own civilians to stay in places where they know that Israel needs to bomb because we are trying to create a better future for Israelis and Palestinians,” she said.
Six hundred thousand people have already made the journey from the northern end of the Gaza Strip to the south. There are hopes the Rafah border crossing into Egypt will be opened.
Some civilians in Northern Gaza have elected to remain in their homes, while pregnant women, the elderly and the injured or sick have no choice. Medical personnel in Gaza’s besieged hospitals have also said they will stay with their patients.
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Ms Livni told 7.30 there were still ways for vulnerable civilians to evacuate.
“We are trying to do our best to minimise the damage to civilians,” she said.
“And there are different possibilities for them to leave to find help in other places. But as long as Hamas is calling or forcing them to stay there, they are responsible.”
The UN has called for the safety of civilians to be prioritised. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said the Middle East was “on the verge of the abyss” warning that Gaza was running out of water and electricity.
In Gaza, more than 2,700 people, including at least 450 children, have died in the bombardment that followed Hamas’s attacks in Israel. Ms Livni said Hamas was responsible for every one of those deaths.
“What did they think when they decided to enter into Israeli kibbutz and to enter into homes and to massacre and to kill women and children and babies? I mean, they expected this … we have no other alternative.”
But Ms Livni, who also served as Israel’s justice minister, maintained Israel was operating within the framework of international rules of engagement.
“We are acting in accordance to the international law,” she said.
She says the Israeli military is hitting Hamas targets.
“We are targeting places where we know Hamas is hiding their own people.”
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