The interview was carried out earlier than Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cellphone name to the Palestinian National Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas.

Edited excerpts:

What’s your response to what occurred on October 7?

My response is historical past didn’t begin on the seventh of October. I do really feel very sorry for the loss of life of so many Palestinians and Israeli residents, however on the similar time, I need to say that what occurred on the seventh was one of many penalties of Israeli behaviour within the West Bank the place the nation’s military and its unlawful settlers collectively carried out a marketing campaign of terror towards the Palestinian civilian inhabitants. This led to the deaths of 248 Palestinians, together with 40 kids earlier than the warfare began in Gaza. Nobody even apologised for the killing of a two-and-a-half-year-old little one in one of many villages in Ramallah. There have been additionally extreme assaults on the Aqsa Mosque and Muslim and Christian holy websites. This is along with Netanyahu, in his United Nations speech, declaring the map of Israel which included the annexation of the West Bank, all of the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. And when he mentioned that Likud, he’ll marginalize the Palestinian subject by normalizing with Arab nations. This is the background of what had occurred and that additionally included terrorist Israeli settlers, which led to the ethnic cleaning of 20 communities within the West Bank, Ramallah, Hebron and Jordan Valley. So Hamas tried to intervene and reply to all these and issues went uncontrolled after all, and what occurred has occurred. But since then, in my view, what Israel is doing now in Gaza just isn’t like a response, it should have been deliberate and had been ready for a chance. They assume they’ve obtained the chance now by conducting three horrible warfare crimes. These warfare crimes have been preceded by an enormous marketing campaign of dehumanising Palestinians.

Were ladies and youngsters focused throughout these assaults?

Yeah, but it surely was deliberate upfront. I don’t know the small print after all. I’m not Hamas. They say that they have been taken abruptly, as a result of the entire Israeli defence fell in a wierd method. And then there was a flood of those that went to Gaza, a few of them have been completely uncontrolled. So possibly the failure right here was that they couldn’t management what occurred afterwards. This is as a result of the Israeli military disappeared, which may be very unusual. This by no means occurred earlier than, that the entire Israeli military merely disappeared for eight hours. Usually even when a bit factor comes too near the border, they’ll instantly react. I don’t know precisely what the failure was. But the fact is that this led to this horrible catastrophe the place harmless folks have been harm. I don’t assume Hamas was planning to take civilians. Probably they wished to take many navy folks to launch Palestinian prisoners, that’s for positive. But, now what you see is… that doesn’t justify the warfare crimes being dedicated now. Israel isn’t simply attacking commerce now, they’re attacking all Palestinian folks, committing warfare crimes. The war crime of ethnic cleaning, the warfare crime of genocide towards the entire inhabitants and the warfare crimes of Gaza, subjecting folks to collective punishment, depriving them of water, electrical energy, medical provides. Who can justify this behaviour by a rustic that claims to be a democracy? You know, it’s actually horrible.

Will this have an effect on bizarre Palestinians?

That is already taking place as I discussed earlier than. Since the warfare began in Gaza, they’ve killed 62 Palestinians within the West Bank within the final 10 days. They have been killed by Israeli settlers and the nation’s military. Palestinians within the West Bank have been protesting towards the assault on Gaza. When they exit in peaceable nonviolent demonstrations, they’re encountered with gunshots from the Israeli military — one thing that the world sadly doesn’t discuss. In one case, within the village of nablus, settlers attacked the villagers, killing three Palestinians. Then the military got here and killed a fourth Palestinian. The subsequent day, on the funeral for the three slain Palestinians, the settlers attacked as soon as once more, killing two extra.

What we see right here is de facto one thing that ought to be condemned however what we see is also bias to Israel. I’m additionally stunned on the place of the Indian authorities which stands for Israel, in contradiction with the normal Mahatma Gandhi place earlier than. He was the one who warned for the very first time in 1933 concerning the dangers of settler colonial Zionist tasks in Palestine. Then there was a convention of friendship with the Indian folks. Now what we see is that this complete bias to Israel, it’s unacceptable. India struggled for 230 years towards British colonialism. India struggled to be free from this oppression. How might India be on the aspect of an oppressor like Israel, an occupier practising apartheid towards the Palestinian inhabitants, claiming that Hamas is ISIS? Hamas just isn’t ISIS. The solely chief on this space that cooperated with ISIS was Netanyahu who introduced ISIS fighters for remedy in Israel to the Golan Heights after they have been preventing Syria. So, to assert that Hamas is ISIS is a fabrication. I’m not defending Hamas, however I’m telling you the actual fact. And then to make use of that to dehumanise all Palestinians and kill Palestinian kids is unacceptable. Okay, 1,500 Israelis killed — unacceptable. But why is the killing of 6,000 Palestinians acceptable, together with greater than 1,300 kids by now? Why is the continuation of massacres thought-about acceptable? We converse concerning the rights of individuals for self dedication. Why are we as Palestinians disadvantaged of our proper to freedom and self-determination since 1948?

As a approach ahead, what would you like India to do?

Take a balanced place, and demand a right away ceasefire. Immediately open passage to herald Gaza humanitarian support and assist initiating a means of change of prisoners as a result of Israeli airstrikes are killing their very own prisoners too. I don’t assume Netanyahu cares about them. So far, he has killed 22 of those prisoners with these airstrikes and clearly he’ll proceed. If he actually cared concerning the prisoners, he would settle for, at the very least non permanent ceasefire and change of prisoners however he doesn’t care. I feel India ought to assist a right away ceasefire, after which assist an answer which entitles Palestinians to be free from occupation, have a State of their very own.