Terror declaration comes as Israeli general says 50 Palestinians must die for every Israeli who died on October 7, 2023, even if they are children
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called the Israeli military a “terrorist organization” after Israel slaughtered at least 20 people, including five journalists, in a “double tap” strike on Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza in which one bombing was followed by another to kill first responders – the so-called “double tap.”
Israel struck the fourth floor of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis with one bomb, followed by a second targeting emergency responders. The reporters killed or injured by Israel worked for Associated Press, Reuters, The Independent, NBC, and Al Jazeera.
SEE: Five journalists among at least 20 killed in Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza
[NOTE: Earlier this month, CAIR condemned Israel’s assassination of five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza and called on U.S. and international media professionals to stand in solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues under attack.]
CAIR’s statement that it will refer to the Israeli military as a terrorist organization comes after newly-released video shows an Israeli missile hitting a Palestinian girl in Gaza while she was gathering water.
WATCH: Newly obtained video shows Israeli missile hitting Palestinian girl in Gaza
It also comes after Israel’s Channel 12 TV station published remarks by an Israeli general who said 50 Palestinians must die for every Israeli who died on October 7, 2023, and “it does not matter now if they are children.” He added: “They need a Nakba every now and then to feel the price.” [NOTE: “Nakba” refers to the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from most of their land in 1948.]
SEE: Israeli general says 50 Palestinians must die for every 7 October victim – The Guardian
Israeli has murdered at least killed 58 people and wounded 308 in the last 24 hours, including 28 starving people who were slaughtered while desperately seeking food for their families.
Israel has slaughtered more than 62,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children. The true figure is likely to be much higher. CAIR called on members of Congress to recognize Israel’s obvious and documented genocide in Gaza after data from a secret Israeli intelligence database showed that least 83 percent of Palestinians slaughtered in Gaza were civilians – not combatants.
In a statement, CAIR said:
“Killing civilians – including journalists and first responders – to achieve a political or religious goal is the very definition of terrorism, and the Israeli government is engaged in state terrorism on a massive scale. It is clear the so-called ‘Israel Defense Forces’ do not regard Palestinians as human beings.
“We will no longer refer to the IDF as a military or its members as soldiers; they are cowards, war criminals and terrorists no different than the so-called army of Bashar Al-Assad that decimated Syria in similarly horrific ways.
“We call on the Trump administration and the international community to immediately halt all military aid to Israel, impose sanctions on its government and military leaders, support a full investigation into the ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, and end the genocide.”
On Saturday, CAIR condemned the silence of the Trump administration after eight more people, including two children, were starved to death in Israel’s U.S.-backed campaign of forced starvation in Gaza.
Last week, CAIR said that the United Nations official declaration that a man-made famine is occurring in Gaza “must mark the end” of the complicity of the Trump administration and Congress in the Israeli government’s ongoing and escalating genocide.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com