"US A Shining Example Of Doublespeak": Palestine Leader To NDTV On Gaza

The member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Mustafa Barghouti, said Israel is committing genocide against innocent civilians in Gaza. Over 4,000 have been killed including 1,700 children and thousands could be still under the rubble, Mr Barghouti said in an exclusive interview with NDTV.

In a big charge against Israel, Mr Barghouti said, "The siege of Gaza is not on Hamas but on Palestinians and they are trying to dehumanise them and create an environment of hate against Palestinians, something that was seen recently in the US where a six-year-old was killed."

On US support for Israel, Mr Barghouti said so far President Joe Biden is advocating the demands of Israel which includes allowing Palestinians in Gaza to flee to Egypt. Terming it "dangerous", Mr Barghouti said this would lead to "ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and it would be the worst hate crime ever and Israel would never allow Palestinians to return to the Gaza Strip, which will turn into another catastrophe for the people of Gaza."

The Palestinian leader said Israel's demand, which could lead to an ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, would be three times more than the "first catastrophe" they faced in 1948 after Israel "ethnically cleansed" over 900,000 Palestinians. 

US President Joe Biden will visit Israel tomorrow as the war escalates. The Palestinian leader said US President Joe Biden should not allow such "crime" to take place and he should be stopped if he asks Jordan or Egypt to accept refugees instead of allowing a passage for humanitarian aid to Gaza and an end to Israeli air strikes. 

Pointing out the US's "mixed signals" as a "shining example of its doublespeak" over its military support for Ukraine against Russia and advocating Israel's demands, Mr Barghouti said the US supplied weapons, humanitarian aid, and artillery to Ukraine against Russian occupation but in this scenario, they are sending troops, aircraft carriers against the occupied (Gaza).

Mustafa Barghouti urged the US to stay out of such "war crimes" and claimed it would fulfil Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan which is "to kill as many Palestinians and then force an eviction and ethnic cleansing in the region and then annexe the Gaza strip."

The Palestinian leader said the Gazans are subjected to a "horrible war crime" through this siege by Israel by depriving them of food, water and basic amenities like medicine and electricity and this could mean the death of many Palestinians especially those in the hospital and a major threat of an epidemic looms over Gaza due to Israel's response.