Israeli President Suggests That Civilians

In Gaza Are Legitimate Targets

“It is an entire nation out there that is responsible,” Isaac Herzog said as Israel
ordered 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate their homes.

By Paul Blumenthal
Oct 13, 2023, 11:43 AM EDT
|Updated Oct 16, 2023

ERROR LOADING
As Israel engages in a massive air campaign ahead of an anticipated full-scale ground
invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Friday that all citizens of
Gaza are responsible for the attack Hamas perpetrated in Israel last weekend that left over
1,200 people dead.
“It is an entire nation out there that is responsible,” Herzog said at a press conference on
Friday. “It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s
absolutely not true. They could have risen up. They could have fought against that evil
regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’etat.”
When a reporter asked Herzog to clarify whether he meant to say that since Gazans did not
remove Hamas from power “that makes them, by implication, legitimate targets,” the Israeli
president claimed, “No, I didn’t say that.”
But he then stated: “When you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to
shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself?”
At another point in the press conference, Herzog presented a different perspective, saying,
“Of course there are many, many innocent Palestinians who don’t agree to this — but
unfortunately in their homes, there are missiles shooting at us, at my children.”
Herzog’s comments follow Israel’s announcement that it had directed the 1.1 million
residents of northern Gaza to evacuate, likely ahead of a ground invasion. Israel dropped
thousands of flyers over northern Gaza and left voice messages on Friday directing people
to leave their homes and flee south.
Human rights groups and the United Nations denounced the evacuation order.
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without
devastating humanitarian consequences,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN
secretary-general, said in a statement. “The United Nations strongly appeals for any such
order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a
tragedy into a calamitous situation.”
“Ordering a million people in Gaza to evacuate, when there’s no safe place to go, is not an
effective warning,” Clive Baldwin, senior legal advisor to Human Rights Watch, said in a
statement. “World leaders should speak up now before it is too late,” he added.
Fabrizio Carboni, the Near and Middle East regional director for the International
Committee of the Red Cross, said in a statement that both the collective punishment of
civilians by Israel and taking of hostages by Hamas are violations of international
humanitarian law.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (right) said "an entire nation out there that is responsible"
for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (left)met with Herzog
on Oct. 12.
JACQUELYN MARTIN VIA GETTY IMAGES
“We are now in contact with Hamas and Israeli officials as part of efforts on this issue,”
Carboni said in a statement. “As a neutral intermediary we stand ready to conduct
humanitarian visits; facilitate communication between hostages and family members; and
to facilitate any eventual release.”
In addition, a small handful of Democratic Party politicians denounced both Israel’s order
to evacuate northern Gaza and Herzog’s statement of support for collective punishment.
“The mass expulsion of over 1 million people in a day is ethnic cleansing,” Rep. Ilhan Omar
(D-Minn.) said on social media.
“I get [Herzog] wanting to go after Hamas,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said on social media.
“But international standards must apply, protection of innocents must be respected, and
unrealistic demands like moving 1.1 million people in 24 hours is ridiculous. Israel will lose
public support & hurt innocent people.”
The Biden administration has refused any effort to criticize Israeli military actions. Which
House officials denounced calls for de-escalation, calling some lawmakers’ comments
“repugnant.”
The Israeli Defense Forces said on Thursday that it has already dropped more than 6,000
bombs on Gaza, an area twice the size of Washington, D.C., with a population of 2.2 million,
half of whom are children. The bombing campaign has killed more than 1,500 people,
including 500 children, and wounded more than 6,000 people so far, according to the Gaza
Ministry of Health.
Israel also cut off all access to electricity and water in Gaza. The sole power plant in Gaza
ran out of fuel on Oct. 11, leaving hospitals to run on backup generators.
So far, more than 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced inside Gaza, according to the
UN. But there is nowhere to go. The only border crossing to Egypt is closed. Israel has
bombed it repeatedly since the beginning of the war and Egypt refuses to admit refugees.
Herzog’s comments in support of collective punishment follow a string of dehumanizing
statements from Israeli leaders following the massacre of civilians by Hamas.
“We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
said on Oct. 9, two days after the attack.
“Human animals must be treated as such,” IDF Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian said on Oct. 10.
“There will be no electricity and no water [in Gaza], there will only be destruction. You
wanted hell, you will get hell.”
This story and headline have been updated to reflect an additional quote from Herzog.