Reuven Azar, Israel’s Ambassador to India, responded to senior news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai’s post drawing parallel with Iran’s recent attack on a hospital in Israel to Israel attack on Gaza hospital on Friday.
In a sharp rebuttal, Reuven stated, "You are wrong. Under international law, when a humanitarian facility is used for military purposes, it loses its immunity. Despite that, Israel has taken measures to clear civilians out of harm’s way—even when Hamas terrorists used hospitals to hide—before targeting them."
"Israel doesn’t use hospitals to conceal military activities, and therefore, attacking them is a war crime," he clarified.
Notably, in a late-night post on X, Rajdeep had written, "Late-night musing: When Iran attacks a hospital in Israel, it’s a ‘war crime’... but when Israel attacks a hospital in Gaza, it’s justified because terrorists are supposedly hiding there."
"Be it in Israel, Gaza, or Tehran tomorrow, any attack on a hospital that leads to civilian deaths is a war crime. Period," he added.
After Reuven defended Israel’s attacks on Gaza hospitals, Rajdeep, in another post, stated that while he believes Hamas taking Israeli citizens hostage is unacceptable, "killing and starving children has no place in international law or a rules-based order either."
"Sir, NOTHING should justify the scale of killing innocent civilians, especially children, in Gaza. What happened on October 7 was a reprehensible act of terror, and Israel has every right to retaliate against Hamas. Holding hostages is unacceptable too. BUT killing and starving children has no place in international law or a rules-based order either. Moral relativism in times of conflict needs a wider debate, Mr. Ambassador," he said.
