India's support important for two reasons…they know terrorism: Israel ambassador
India is a very important player in the world and it is a country that knows terrorism, Israel's ambassador said explaining why India's support matters much.
Israel's ambassador to India Naor Gilon said India's support is significant to Israel for two reasons and the first one of them is India's importance in the world. The second one, Naor explained, is linked to India's long fight against terrorism. "India comes from a position of a country who knows terrorism So it comes from a point of knowledge and not of ignorance. And for that, we are very much thankful. And again, Israel needs only moral and political support. Work on the ground we know how to do it, but we need to have the ability to execute the plan in order to make sure that Hamas will not threaten anyone else again," Naor said. After PM Modi's tweet on Saturday expressing solidarity with Israel, many Indian ministers, civil servants, and businessmen reached out to the ambassador, Naor confirmed.
In an unprecedented attack, Hamas on Saturday infiltrated from Gaza Strip and bombed Israel. As the toll a day after reached around 600, countries are being watched for their reaction to the terrorist attack -- the sides they choose and with what clarity in this long-drawn battle between Israel and Palestine. PM Modi posted a message on X hours after the attack and condemned it, without naming Hamas or Palestine. "We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour," PM Modi's message was clear as he denounced the 'terrorist attacks'. Israel thanked for PM Modi's support.
Israel-Hamas war, Indians in Israel: Here are the latest updates
The conflict in Israel reached the second day after Israel announced war against Hamas following its unprecedented attack.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a long and difficult war as the Israeli army deployed thousands of forces with a 24-hour deadline in mind to flush out the infiltrators.
Israeli media said the toll reached 600 in the worst fighting in decades.
Several Indians are stuck in Israel, but there is no news of any Indian among the casualties. " We don't know of Indian foreign nationals so far, we didn't get any information of such," the ambassador said.
Israel needs India's strong support because Hamas will now present themselves as the victim, Naor said. "Now they have also Israeli hostages to hide behind and to present themselves as the victim. This is always the issue. That's why we will need this very strong support of our Indian friends and India as a very influential country in the world, as a country that knows terrorism and understands the crisis, it will be very important for us to give us the ability to do what we need to do in order to make sure that Hamas will not be able to continue doing atrocities. It's clear to us that Iran is involved with it. We know for sure about supplying of weapons, training..." the ambassador said.
