Ex-PM says Israel almost ‘committing war crimes’ in Gaza

In a scathing BBC interview, former prime minister Ehud Olmert calls Israel’s military actions in Gaza “obnoxious,” “outrageous,” and lacking any clear purpose.

By World Israel News Staff

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert slammed Israel’s expanded operation in the Gaza Strip, saying that military activity in the coastal enclave could soon be considered a war crime.

Olmert served as the premier between 2006 and 2009, and was a key player in the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which saw the dismantling of dozens of Jewish settlements in the region.

What the Israeli army “is doing now in Gaza, is very close to a war crime,” Olmert told the UK BBC broadcaster in an interview on Tuesday evening.

Olmert added that the current fighting is “a war without a purpose – a war without a chance of achieving anything that can save the lives of the hostages.”

The “obvious appearance” of the conflict is that thousands of Gazan civilians are being killed, Olmert said.

“From every point of view, this is obnoxious and outrageous,” he continued.

“We are fighting the killers of Hamas, we are not fighting innocent civilians,” Olmert added. “And that has to be clear.”

Olmert, a bitter political enemy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has long held that the war in Gaza should be ended in exchange for the release of the hostages.

“The war has no objective and has no chance of achieving anything that could save the lives of the hostages,” he told the BBC.

Earlier in May, Olmert told German DW News broadcaster that Netanyahu has tried to “force” and “failed” to create a direct confrontation between the US and Iran, under both the Obama and Trump administrations.

After leaving office in 2009, Olmert was prosecuted for accepting bribes during his time as the mayor of Jerusalem, several years before his tenure as prime minister.

In March 2015, Olmert was convicted of bribery, breach of trust, and fraud charges. He served 16 months in prison.