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Israel envoy's Diwali message: 'Light a diya' for hostages held by Hamas
Israel-Hamas War: Naor Gilon said a diya (lamp) must be lit in the hope of having our loved ones return.
Ahead of Diwali, Israel's ambassador to India urged Indians to light a 'Diya of Hope' for the hostages from his country who are being held by Hamas since last month's assault. Condemning the October 7 onslaught, Israel's Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said that if the country is able to eliminate Hamas, it will also decrease chances of a ripple effect.
Posting a video on X (formerly Twitter), Naor Gilon said that just as Lord Ram's return is celebrated on Diwali by lighting Diyas, a diya (lamp) must be lit in the hope of having our loved ones return.
"240 of our loved ones have been held hostage by #HamasTerrorists for a month. Every #Diwali, we celebrate Lord Ram's return by lighting Diyas," Naor Gilon said, adding, “THIS #Diwali2023 we invite you to light a Diya in the hope of having our loved ones return Tag us and share your photos using the #DiyaOfHope.”
Israel waited for weeks and asked civilians to evacuate to the south, but Hamas used civilians as human shields, he said.
Read more: Antony Blinken says Israel shouldn't 'reoccupy' Gaza: ‘Not now, not after war’
"If we are able to eliminate Hamas, if we get the time, it will decrease the chances that it will have a ripple effect. You see, we were waiting for weeks and asked civilians to evacuate to the south. But Hamas used civilians as human shields. They hid in the hospital. There is international pressure on them," the Israeli envoy said.
"I think that if we are able to, to eliminate Hamas as we hope to do. If we get the time to do it as we hope to do it, it will decrease the chance, significantly that there will be a ripple effect...They went on October 7, penetrated 30 Israeli communities, killed 1400 people abducted 240 people, injured many and we didn't speak about the rockets. They are firing close to 10000 rockets by the way by the way. The hospital short firing of the rocket was not the only one. Their average is 20 per cent," he said.
"So we can assume that there are about 2000 rockets so far close to that that fell short inside Gaza...We waited almost three weeks until we went to the ground for the ground operation. And all that time, we said we were going into North Gaza first, evacuated to the south, and they were putting pressure even threatening and even shooting people in order to prevent them because they needed them as human shields," he said.
Taking a jibe at Arab countries, he continued, “What happens here is against what people think. Americans did understand and sent their carriers. They now have a submarine. What's happening is you can see the world dividing. It's about the world struggling for power. Russia is going with Iran. You can see two Mmuslim brotherhoods Qatar and Turkey. It's not about Jihad or Non-Jihad. We are a small country pulled in the games of other countries.”
