Israeli Minister Says Rafah Demolitions ‘Not Humane’

Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid told the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, May 23, that Israel’s "demolition of houses in Rafah must stop. It is not humane, not Jewish, and causes us grave damage in the world," reported Ha’aretz.

"At the end of the day, they’ll kick us out of the United Nations, try those responsible in the international court in The Hague, and no one will want to speak with us," the Israeli daily quoted him as warning.

"I was in the United States last week, and I noticed that we look like monsters to the rest of the world," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Lapid as saying.

The justice minister dismissed as "crazy" Israel’s plan "to destroy 2,000 to 3,000 homes in Rafah."

Grandmother Link

"When I saw the images on television of an old Palestinian woman on her knees in the process of looking for her medication in the debris that was once her home, it reminded me of my grandmother," Lapid told Israel’s military radio.

His grandmother was reportedly killed in Germany during the reign of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Lapid was fiercely attacked by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who accused him of feeding the "anti-Israeli propaganda machine," said AFP.

Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to retract his comments, according to Ha’aretz.

"I am not making any comparison between Israel and the Nazis. I am merely expressing the association of ideas that came to mind when I saw those images. When you see an old woman, you think of your grandmother," Lapid countered.

Israel has launched a fierce aggression on the Rafah last week, killing some 57 people , wounding some 300 others, driving about 1500 families homeless, forcing them to resort to schools or public squares for shelter after their houses were completely or partially demolished.

On Saturday, May 22, Peter Hansen, the UNRWA chief, toured Rafah and said the size of destruction "seems to be approaching Jenin," referring to Israel’s biggest offensive launched in the Palestinian territories since the 1967 war.

Le Monde on Thursday, May 20, dismissed the Israeli offensive on Rafah as a "dirty war " launched by occupation forces against the Palestinians.

He Israeli houses demolitions and aggressions in Rafah have been branded by Amnesty International as "war crimes ".

The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution late Wednesday, May 19, condemning Israel for killing Palestinian civilians and demolishing houses in Rafah.