Politics

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this afternoon (Monday, 1 July 2013), met with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer and told him that he was very pleased to meet him, adding that the State of Israel would continue to cooperate with the ICRC. The two men discussed the possibility in Israeli water and health technologies. Prime Minister Netanyahu referred to the issue of Ayman Sharawna, a Hamas militant who was sentenced to 38 years in prison following his involvement in a May 2002 terrorist attack in Be'er Sheva. Sharawna was released in the framework of the deal for the return of Gilad Shalit, and was arrested again after returning to terrorist activity. After he went on a hunger strike, international organizations appealed for his release; the ICRC expressed concern over his health, claimed that Sharawna would die if the prison authorities did not find an immediate solution and called for him not to be fed or treated against his will. Four months ago, it was agreed that he would be expelled to Gaza. Only one month ago, an article was published in which Sharawna gloried in his return to military activity in Hamas.

Prime Minister Netanyahu added that Hezbollah is perpetrating war crimes in Syria and slaughtering innocent Syrian civilians even as it continues to stockpile tens of thousands of rockets, concentrated in residential buildings and aimed at Israeli civilians. "Israel will continue to honor international law but will not sit idly by while terrorists perpetrate two war crimes simultaneously: Firing at Israeli cities and hiding behind civilians in Lebanon or Gaza. It is our full legal and moral right to attack, with fire that is as precise as possible, those who fire indiscriminately at our civilians. Responsibility for inadvertent strikes that are liable to be caused to civilians in Lebanon or the Gaza Strip is on the shoulders of Hezbollah and Hamas," the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu told ICRC President Maurer that Israel is interested in peace with the Palestinians and that to advance it the sides must sit and talk.