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Hamas must either flee, be arrested, or be eliminated

17 July 2014

FM Liberman: The heads of Hamas in Gaza must either flee, be arrested, or be eliminated

As part of the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic initiatives that are accompanying Operation Protective Edge, I visited Ashdod today, together with Italian FM Federica Mogherini. I also met with German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Jerusalem, and I spoke on the phone with Secretary of State John Kerry and Greek FM Evangelos Venizelos.

I told my counterparts: “We don’t want to rule the Gaza Strip and we aren’t seeking war, but we must ensure the security of Israeli citizens, and therefore we must cause the heads of Hamas in Gaza to either flee, be arrested, or be eliminated.”

I further told them that the world must give Israel full backing, all the way, because, just as no one would consent to missiles falling on Washington, Berlin, Rome or Athens, just so we cannot have missiles falling on Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Sderot or any other city, and we will not accept a situation in which six million people have to run to shelters whenever Hamas decides to shoot at Israel.

I told them that concerning Gaza – the place from which Israel withdrew to the ’67 lines to the last millimeter, from which every last settler and every last settlement was removed, just as the international community is constantly demanding of us – exactly for that reason, there must be international support for an aggressive move against Hamas. Therefore, we must take advantage of the opportune diplomatic situation in the Middle East and destroy the Hamas regime.”

ENDS

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