Israel will continue the war until Hamas is destroyed – Ambassador George Deek

Baku/24.10.23/Turan: The Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan continues its diplomatic activities, provides consular and other services,  the Azerbaijani service of the "Voice of America" by the Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan, George Deek. "We have full cooperation with the Azerbaijani government, which is responsible for the security of all diplomatic missions, including the Israeli one," the ambassador said.

The Ambassador is impressed by how Azerbaijanis representing different strata of society carried flowers to the Israeli Embassy as a sign of respect for the memory of those killed in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7.

To the question what prevents the achievement of sustainable peace ? Answering this question, the Ambassador noted that there is more peace in the Middle East now than before. "First of all, we have more peace in the Middle East today than a few years ago – we have now peace with Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Only a few years ago this would’ve sounded like a fantasy, and it became reality with the Abrahamic Accords. Peace with the Arab world is happening, and big time," the ambassador said.

At the same time, there is no peace with the Palestinians for a very simple reason – they still do not recognize Jews as the indigenous population of the Israeli land, who have the right of self-determination on their land.  And we are talking about self-determination not in the Palestinian State, but next to it.

"The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is refusing to even recognize that a Jewish nation exists, let alone that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people. They see Jews as foreigners and colonizers," the diplomat said.

As a result, Hamas and other terrorist groups believe that by killing Israelis, they will intimidate others and be able to oust them from this territory.

Deek stressed that with the destruction of Hamas, the illusions about the possibility of Israel's destruction will be put to an end. We will hunt down every single Hamas terrorist who took part in those events, one by one, no matter how long it takes, and make sure they are held accountable. Every Hamas terrorist involved in these events, no matter how long it takes, will be found and brought to justice.

The Ambassador indicated that the settlement of the conflict will begin under three conditions: Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all other terrorist groups must surrender or be destroyed;

The Palestinian leadership must put an end to the war against Jewish self-determination and commit to recognizing Israel as the homeland of the Jews;

The Palestinian leadership must put an end to the rhetoric praising and encouraging terrorists, and educate Palestinian society in an atmosphere of peace and tolerance.

The free world must be united and resolute against barbarism and tyranny.

The free world must stand united and determined against barbarism and tyranny. That’s how ISIS was defeated, and that’s how we must face the biggest threat posed to the world today: the Iranian clerical regime. They crush their own people, women, minorities, seculars and others. They bring destruction to every country they enter: Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq. They fund and train illegal terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and others. And they threaten my people with genocide, and the destruction of Israel and the Western World.

The war can end today. For that to happen Hamas needs to surrender, disarm the entire Gaza strip, and release all the hostages. If they don’t do that, Israel will continue the war until Hamas is destroyed.

This is not a war about politics or territory. This is a war for the future of humanity. There can be no compromise.," the ambassador said. ---16B---