Israel’s ambassador to New Zealand has admitted it will be impossible to completely destroy Hamas, but says his nation will “de-weaponise” the militant group and keep it from being “part of any future solution” in the Gaza Strip.
In a wide-ranging Q+A interview, Ran Yaakoby was questioned about Israel’s six-month-long war in Gaza – with civilian deaths continuing to mount into the tens of thousands.
When asked today if “entirely destroying” Hamas would be impossible, Yaakoby answered: “Yes … we have to de-weaponise Hamas, and we cannot allow Hamas or Iran – which is the big puppeteer now, front stage, to be part of any future solution.”
In February, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “total victory is important to achieve the war goal” of “destroying Hamas”. The country’s defence minister vowed last year that Israel would “wipe” Hamas “off the face of the earth”.
Decades of hostilities dramatically intensified last October, when Hamas gunmen broke out of the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing around 1200 Israelis and kidnapping around 250.
Since the brutal surprise attack, the Israeli military has launched a massive bombing campaign and ground invasion of the strip, killing over 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Although the Hamas-run health authorities do not differentiate between combatants and civilians in their count, they say at least two-thirds have been children and women.
Yaakoby was asked in the interview about what Israel’s long-term strategy in the war would result in, including the potential of radicalising support for militants in the region.
Over 30,000 killed, ambassador claims war ‘most moral’
Speaking to Q+A, the Israeli ambassador was repeatedly pressed about the morality of his country’s bombing and ground invasion in Gaza since the October 7 attack.
Yaakoby was asked: “By the best estimate we have, at the moment, 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza. How can Israel justify a response that kills 13,000 children?
“How far do you believe Israel’s moral justification extends?”
The ambassador responded, as part of a longer answer: “The question is, how many children on both sides will have been saved, at the end? How many children and civilians, on both sides?
“How many children on the Israeli side and civilians are saved by not allowing Hamas to repeat it?
“Or are we simply done and over with it, and we have to allow this creature from hell to come again, and again, and again.”
He later said: “Israel has acted in this case of asymmetric urban warfare, I would claim, in the most moral way, in the most militarily ethical way.”
Many countries including New Zealand have called for an immediate ceasefire in the war.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said at the United Nations last week: “Palestinian civilians continue to bear the brunt of Israel’s military actions, humanitarian and medical workers are being killed, and health facilities and vital infrastructure have been destroyed.”
He added: “Palestinian civilians must not be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.”
Ambassador: NZ part of ‘like-minded’ countries
Yaakoby was also asked about the Israeli perception of New Zealand’s diplomatic response, six months into the Gaza war.
He responded: “New Zealand has condemned, both the attack by Hamas on October 7 and the attack by Iran.
“I think New Zealand definitely belongs to the like-minded, western-style democracies.
“New Zealand sent a small component of six representatives to the coalition fighting the Houthis and the hijacking of ships on the high seas. I think New Zealand is on the right path, I would have loved New Zealand to be faster, on some tracks.”
The ambassador continued his answer in the full interview.
For the full interview, watch Q+A at 9am on TVNZ+ or TVNZ 1
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
Additional reporting by the Associated Press