Piers Morgan Turns on Benjamin Netanyahu Over 'Indefensible' Rafah Strikes

Piers Morgan criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's "indefensible" strikes on Rafah.

Morgan, a British conservative political commentator, raised concerns about Israel's latest strikes on Gaza in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning.

"The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific. I've defended Israel's right to defend itself after Oct7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible. Stop this now @netanyahu," Morgan posted.

On October 7, 2023, militant group Hamas launched an attack against Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 others hostage. Israel subsequently launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in the months since, according to the Associated Press, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel's offensive has sparked global concerns about the number of civilians who have been killed.

On Monday, an Israeli airstrike hit people in a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, a city located near a border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, killing at least 35, reported the Associated Press.

The strikes drew global condemnation, including from Morgan, who has generally supported Israel's right to defend itself amid the conflict. In a separate post, he wrote, "When the IRA were murdering people in England, we didn't drop 2000lb bombs on Belfast because the terrorists were living among civilians."

Yaari Cohen, an employee of the Political Director's Office at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, responded to Morgan, writing, "Piers, I would think it prudent for a Journalist to mention the strike in Rafah was a precision strike targeted at 2 Senior Hamas commanders."

In a separate post, Cohen wrote that two members of Hamas, Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, were killed in the strike.

"Well it wasn't very precise, was it....," Morgan responded.

Newsweek reached out to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email and Morgan via Instagram message for comment.

Morgan's critique comes as Israel faces growing international pressure over humanitarian concerns in Gaza.

"Outraged by the Israeli strikes that have killed many displaced persons in Rafah. These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in a statement posted to X.

On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague issued several directives to Netanyahu over the situation in Rafah, saying it was "not convinced" that Israel was doing enough to evacuate Palestinian civilians from the city.

The ICJ specifically ordered Israel to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to allow large-scale humanitarian aid, grant access to Gaza for investigators and fact-finding missions and provide a progress report to the court within a month on implementing these measures.

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