New Delhi: Israel hopes India will “do the right thing” and designate Hamas as a terror group, Tal Heinrich, spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), told ThePrint in an exclusive interview.
Heinrich, however, did not confirm whether Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has officially raised the request with India.
This comes two weeks after Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said he spoke to Indian authorities here on the issue, adding: “We are not putting pressure (on India); we are asking.”
In a video interaction with ThePrint Tuesday night, Heinrich also spoke about the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), saying, “We want to see this project coming to fruition… that will connect India to Europe through Israel and Saudi Arabia and bring prosperity to the Middle East”.
She also made it clear that there will be no letup in Israeli military operations until their goal of finishing off Hamas is achieved. “We want to see every nation in the civilised world defining Hamas as a terror organisation… we are sure that India will do the right thing.”
Hamas, which launched an unprecedented aerial and ground attack on Israel on 7 October, killing 1,400 Israelis and taking more than 200 hostages, has been designated as a terror group by Israel, the US, and the EU. While it is yet to designate Hamas as a terror group, India has termed the 7 October attack as an act of terror.
Last month, India abstained from voting on a United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution because it failed to condemn the attack. Over 40 member states — including India’s fellow BRICS members — had co-sponsored the resolution that called for a “sustained humanitarian truce” and halting of fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Heinrich said it was “outrageous” that the UN Security Council had not condemned Hamas despite a month having passed since the attack.
“It is outrageous that we are a month after the October 7 massacre and the UN Security Council still hasn’t condemned Hamas. We are still waiting to see it. Unfortunately for Israelis, over the years, we have had very low expectations from this institution because there’s a built-in bias in it against us,” she said.
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‘No stopwatch on Israeli military op in Gaza’
According to the Palestinian Authority-run Ministry of Health in Ramallah, an estimated 10,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza in the military operation launched by Israel against Hamas.
While warning those in northern Gaza to move towards the southern part of the enclave, Israel has been targeting suspected Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had advanced to the heart of Gaza City.
Almost half of the war-struck enclave’s two million residents are under 18. The health ministry in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, says more than 4,000 children were among those killed.
UN officials have expressed concern over severe food and water shortage, lack of electricity, and limited access and movement in Gaza. They have also pointed out that Israeli air strikes continue in “close vicinity” of hospitals.
According to Heinrich, Israel does not have a “deadline” for its military operation in Gaza.
“There’s no deadline. There’s no stopwatch on the military activity in Gaza. We said that once the goal is completed, there will be a ceasefire,” she said, adding that the return of Israeli refugees will also affect whether a ceasefire is effected.
“The goal is to eliminate Hamas as the governance body and its murderous military wing,” added the spokesperson for the Israeli PMO.
Asked if the conflict could affect planned infrastructure projects in the region including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), she said eliminating Hamas from Gaza is Israel’s priority. “We want to see this project coming to fruition… we know the people of India want to see it,” said Heinrich.
An agreement on IMEC was signed by India, the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, European Union, Italy, France and Germany during the G20 Summit here in September. The proposed corridor — which will include a rail, ship and road transport network — seeks to connect India to the Gulf region and a northern corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe.
“But it is not coincidental that Hamas attacked us and massacred us right when we were on the brink of a major diplomatic breakthrough (with Saudi Arabia) that would have brought a historic peace deal to the region,” she said.
“We hope to see it one day but first, the goal of eliminating Hamas must be completed,” Heinrich told ThePrint.
Before the attack by Hamas, Israel and Saudi Arabia were in talks, mediated by the US, for normalisation of ties. This was preceded by four Arab countries, namely the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan signing the Abraham Accords — a series of treaties signifying normalisation of diplomatic ties with Israel — in 2020.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)