Israel Ambassador Denies Gaza Crisis

Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, personifies the meaning of burying one's head in the sand. On a Sky News television interview on 16 October, the day before the Israeli bombardment of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in besieged Gaza that killed about 500 people, Hotovely said there is "no humanitarian crisis" in the Gaza Strip.

The ambassador ignored that Israeli occupation forces cut off supplies of water, food and fuel, meaning hospitals would lose normal sources of power as well as diesel supplies needed for backup generators.

The living are sheltering from bombardments that are raining down on Gaza, and they are sleeping between beds filled with patients, while the dead are overflowing in morgues in the few hospitals that haven't fallen to the Israeli onslaught. A Russia-sponsored UN resolution for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was rejected following a vote, which saw African states Gabon and Mozambique vote in favor of the Moscow-drafted resolution. Another African state, Ghana, was one of six countries that abstained. Plus, it's no surprise that imperialist nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Japan shot it down.

When the interviewer asked if the ambassador had seen the pictures coming out of Gaza that prove it's a humanitarian crisis, she said "Blame Hamas." The ambassador's remarks sparked condemnation across social media. The UN and other international bodies had warned that Israel's forced evacuation of Palestinians from north to south, as well as cutting off water and electricity, has pushed the besieged strip into a humanitarian crisis. This adds to the already devastating impacts of Israel's air, land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007. Last week, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett erupted at a Sky News interviewer for daring to ask him about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

At least 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian health ministry says. That includes over 1,000 children, with an additional 12,500 Palestinians confirmed injured. Give it a watch and let us know your thoughts in the comments.