HARARE – Zimbabwe’s foreign ministry on Tuesday criticised the “indiscriminate targeting of civilians especially women and children” in the latest conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian group, Hamas.
The ministry also criticised “the disproportionate use of force” by Israel which is avenging the killing of over 700 of its nationals in a surprise incursion by hundreds of Hamas militants on October 6.
“The government of Zimbabwe urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint and allow humanitarian workers access to the injured and displaced,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The tragic developments once again highlight the urgent need for the revival of the political process aimed at finding a durable and just solution which respects the right to self determination of the Palestinian people as envisaged under the United Nations Resolutions.”
Zimbabwe has voted for over a dozen United Nations resolutions reaffirming the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty. The country supports a two-states solution.
A careful campaign of deception ensured Israel was caught off guard when the Islamist group Hamas launched its devastating attack from the Gaza strip, enabling a force using bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to take on the Middle East’s most powerful army.
Saturday’s assault, the worst breach in Israel’s defences since Arab armies waged war in 1973, followed two years of subterfuge by Hamas that involved keeping its military plans under wraps and convincing Israel it did not want a fight, Reuters reported.
While Israel was led to believe it was containing a war-weary Hamas by providing economic incentives to Gazan workers, the group’s fighters were being trained and drilled, often in plain sight.
Many Hamas leaders were unaware of the plans and, while training, the 1,000 fighters deployed in the assault had no inkling of the exact purpose of the exercises, a Hamas source added.
When the day came, the operation was divided into four parts.
The first move was a barrage of 3,000 rockets fired from Gaza that coincided with incursions by fighters who flew hang gliders, or motorised paragliders, over the border. Israel has previously said 2,500 rockets were fired at first.
Once the fighters on hang-gliders were on the ground, they secured the terrain so an elite commando unit could storm the fortified electronic and cement wall built by Israel to prevent infiltration.
The fighters used explosives to breach the barriers and then sped across on motorbikes. Bulldozers widened the gaps and more fighters entered in four-wheel drives, scenes that witnesses described.
A commando unit attacked the Israeli army’s southern Gaza headquarters and jammed its communications, preventing personnel from calling commanders or each other, the source said.
The final part involved moving hostages to Gaza, mostly achieved early in the attack, the source close to Hamas said.
In one well-publicised hostage taking, fighters abducted party-goers fleeing a rave near the kibbutz of Re’im near Gaza. Social media footage showed dozens of people running through fields and on a road as gunshots were heard.
Israel has responded harshly and over 1,000 Palestinians are dead and infrastructure destroyed in daily bombings.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a blockade of Gaza and says troops will move in for ground operations in the hopes of dismantling Hamas and rescuing around 200 captives.
