Israel is doing criminal Even if there is a Ceasefire

 Children in the Gaza Strip are being killed and injured by bombs made in the United States and missiles fired from US-made planes, says an academic, highlighting the role Washington plays in the Israeli regime’s war on the besieged enclave.

Chris Galloway, a senior lecturer at Massey University, told MUSLIMPRESS that an “Israel is right whatever it does” attitude has warped any moral sense that some US leaders have.

“By any standard of morality, what Israel is doing with its non-stop bombardment of Gaza is not only wrong but also criminal Even if there is a ceasefire,” he said.

The following is the full transcript of the interview:

Since October 7, when Israel waged a war on Gaza in response to a surprise attack by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, the Israeli military has repeatedly targeted residential areas, hospitals, schools, etc. What’s your take on this?

Israel touts its army as “the most moral army in the world”. But a military that behaves as the Zionist one has, targeting hospitals, schools, ambulances and people who had been directed to supposedly safe areas puts itself outside the pale of civilized nations, in my view.

What role can the international community play in this regard?

Many international voices have been calling for a ceasefire and the delivery of adequate aid to Gaza. The problem is that Israel has a history of ignoring such voices and pressing on with the purpose it has determined.

Israeli “heritage” minister Amichai Eliyahu said in a recent interview that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was “one of the possibilities.” What could you say about this?

First of all, it is an implicit acknowledgment that Israel has a nuclear arsenal. Second, it shows the extent to which extremist Zionist leaders have “othered” the Palestinians.

On November 7, the US House voted to censure Palestinian-American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib over her criticism of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. How do you interpret this, as well as other developments in the US with regard to the Gaza war?

It shows that an “Israel is right whatever it does” attitude has warped any moral sense that some US leaders have. By any standard of morality, what Israel is doing with its non-stop bombardment of Gaza is not only wrong but also criminal. But this is not the first time that medical facilities, for example, have been hit. I think that if ever the US and Israel had any claim to legitimacy in what they do, especially together, that time is now long gone. Children are being killed and injured by bombs made in America, and missiles are being fired from US-made planes.

How has the Gaza war affected global and regional alliances?

I think the unfolding tragedy of the criminal assaults on Gaza (and I do not excuse the Hamas attack, either) is sharpening the divide between Iran, Russia, China and their allies and the Western powers who line up with the US.

When I say I do not excuse the Hamas attack (and I don’t) I can see their rationale for undertaking it: that for years, Gaza has been subjected to all kinds of attacks seemingly with impunity and a deafening silence from major powers.