Israel Defense Forces (IDF) oldest reservist, who was involved in a 1948 massacre of Palestinian civilians, recently called on Israelis to "erase the memory of... families, mothers and children." In a video that was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter by independent Middle East and North Africa news outlet Middle East Eye, the 95-year-old Ezra Yachin was telling troops that "these animals can no longer live," referring to Palestinians.
Yachin was one of more than 300,000 army reservists mobilized by Israel since war broke out with Hamas in Gaza a week ago. But the army veteran won't be involved in combat, he will instead serve to "boost the morale" of the soldiers, according to recent reports. He said: "Be triumphant and finish them off and don’t leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them. Erase them, their families, mothers and children. These animals can no longer live." (Related: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio appears to call for OPEN GENOCIDE against all Palestinian women, men and children – "they have to be eradicated.")
“These animals can no longer live.”
Ezra Yachin, a 95-year-old Israeli army reservist, is seen inciting “every Jew with a weapon” to kill Palestinians and “erase the memory of them” pic.twitter.com/LUQs0XoR5U
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) October 13, 2023
The senior IDF official also insisted that there was "no excuse," as Hezbollah "could send air strikes" and "Arabs here could attack us" and urged every Jew with a weapon to go out and kill the Palestinians. "If you have an Arab neighbor, don't wait, go to his home and shoot him," Yachin suggested. "We will witness things we've never dreamed of. Let them drop bombs on them and erase them," claiming that "all of the prophecies sent by the prophets are about to occur."
At least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, the enclave's health ministry said on Monday. Of those killed, 750 were children and 458 are women.
Gaza is literally being wiped out: Before/After?
Israel killed more Gazans in 8 days than in all of the 7-YEAR long 1st intifada (with its "breaking the bones" policy)
Over 2329 killed, inc. 750 kids in 8 days
12 Gazans killed every hour!
A televized, livestreamed carnage... pic.twitter.com/ixx2SbeB3n
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) October 15, 2023
Yachin served as a combat soldier with the Lehi Zionist militia, an underground paramilitary group which carried out atrocities before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. He was involved in the Deir Yassin massacre in April of the same year, when Zionist militiamen belonging to the Lehi and Irgun groups went house to house, killing more than 100 people in the small Palestinian village near Jerusalem, despite having agreed to an earlier truce.
In an interview with the Jewish Press in 2020, Yachin said his Lehi unit was called upon to carry out an attack on Deir Yassin. "The village was a terrorist hideout," he said. "Leftist historians claim that we ruthlessly, and with premeditation, slaughtered the inhabitants of the village, including women and children. That was not the case at all. It is true that women and youngsters were killed, but that was because they served as fighters." At least 13,000 Palestinians were killed, hundreds of villages were destroyed and some 750,000 people were forcibly displaced from their homes to make way for the state of Israel that year.
And now he is being celebrated as a hero for his efforts, with Israeli media personality Hananya Naftali tweeting that his message is, "Don’t give up, not even now."
Ezra Yachin, at 95, is the IDF's oldest reservist. He's been drafted into the reserves to boost morale by talking with soldiers. Despite enduring a tough childhood in Jerusalem marked by riots and unsettling scenes, he and his friends played a role in founding our great nation.… pic.twitter.com/QpQFRlIlDI
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) October 10, 2023
IDF prepares to move into Gaza to destroy Hamas
In line with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to "demolish Hamas" a week after the horrifying Hamas terrorist attack, IDF prepared to move into the Gaza Strip in pursuit of Hamas militants. Israel has already instructed Gazans to evacuate south. According to reports, hundreds of thousands out of the more than two million residents have already done this. On the other hand, Hamas, which runs Gaza, told people to ignore the former's alert.
Claiming to de-escalate the conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his tour of Middle Eastern states, seeking to secure the release of 155 hostages Israel said were taken by Hamas back into Gaza.
Meanwhile, clashes on Israel's border with Lebanon, the deadliest since 2006, have underscored the dangers of regional spillover. On Sunday, Hamas' armed wing Al Qassam Brigades said it fired 20 rockets from Lebanon at two Israeli settlements while the Hezbollah militia said it fired missiles at Israeli barracks in Hanita and had inflicted casualties. Israel said it was striking Lebanon in retaliation, and the United Nations peacekeeping force said its headquarters in south Lebanon had been hit by a rocket.
Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, warned Israel of escalation if it kept attacking Palestinians. "If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger," said Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, adding that Tehran could not simply stay an observer.
Keep up with the latest news about the current conflict in the Gaza Strip on WWIII.news.
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