In a moment of high tension in view of the possible scenario of an open war between Iran and Israel, the representative in Spanish of the Israeli army, Roni Kaplan (Montevideo, 1982), states that the Defense Forces of Israel (IDF) prepares for all scenarios. Regarding the performance of Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, he points out that “it is often forgotten that in a war there are tragedies and mistakes”.
Will Israel strike back at Iran despite Washington not wanting a war with Tehran?
We are prepared for all scenarios both defensively and offensively. There is no doubt that we will harm anyone who acts against us or plans to attack us. For now, our position is essentially defensive. We are seeing what else Iran can do and we are ready to act according to the Government’s orders.
What is the next step in the war in Gaza?
We have dismantled 19 of the 24 Hamas battalions in the Gaza Strip. We have five left. Four of which are in Rafah, intact, and the other, in the center. So that the Hamas army does not regroup, we have no other option than to try to dismantle the Rafah battalions. We will first establish temporary humanitarian islands, to which Palestinians will be evacuated to leave the combat zone, as we have done before. We will continue to fight committed to international humanitarian law, distinguishing between civilians and terrorists, and maintaining the proportionality set out in international law.
Regarding proportionality, 976 magazine states that the IDF was authorized to kill up to 20 civilians for every low-ranking Hamas fighter and up to 100 for a senior leader at the start of the war. How do you explain it?
There is an industry of lies surrounding the use of Israeli forces that I am seeing here in Barcelona, ??in the media, academia and politics. According to John Spencer, a professor at West Point University who specializes in urban warfare, for every terrorist Israel neutralizes, 1.5 civilians die in Gaza, an average lower than the 20th and 21st century wars of 8 or 9 civilians per downed combatant.
And you recognize it?
Yes, it’s mostly true. This proportion takes as reference the figures given by Hamas, of 32,000 dead, and we are talking about 13,000 dead terrorists. The difference between 13,000 and 32,000 is 19,000, hence the ratio of 1.5.
With more than 76,000 injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, don’t you think that proportionality is no longer being met?
We try to do everything in our power to mitigate harm to civilians, we carefully select the type of ammunition we use to minimize collateral damage. One way is by asking them to evacuate conflict zones. Many of the wounded, sadly, ignored the 42 million warnings we sent by SMS, phone calls, flyers and other means in this war.
There are reports that they use one-ton bombs and unguided bombs, known as dummy bombs. Is it like that?
It’s easy to categorize the munitions we use as dumb bombs, but it’s misleading. We use a wide range of munitions, depending on the target: many of which are precision guided. Our pilots fire other unguided munitions very accurately.
You describe the attack on World Central Kitchen as a “mistake”, but the UN speaks of almost 200 aid workers dead. Are there enough control mechanisms before attacking?
A very large number of attacks are aborted, precisely because there is no distinction between civilians and terrorists. What happened on April 1 was a tragic mistake. We do not intend to cause any harm to the collaborators of humanitarian aid. Having said that, UNRWA [the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees] has hundreds of terrorists in its ranks. More than 450, as we have shown. UNRWA members invaded Israel and killed people on October 7. UNRWA is part of the problem, not part of the solution, and in the medium and long term it needs to be replaced. Spain and the Spanish subsidiary of UNRWA, through Spanish tax payers, ultimately give money to UNRWA in Gaza and from there to Hamas.
The UN says the reports are inconclusive. Spain, Norway, Belgium or Ireland, among other countries, continue to send funds to UNRWA.
How much can you expect from the United Nations? I tell him cynically that the UN is made up of Iran, Syria or North Korea, as if they care about human rights more than Israel.
The Israeli army killed three Israeli hostages. Is there a certain lack of control of the troops on the ground?
We are a professional army and when we make a mistake we investigate it in a transparent way. Many times it is not understood that it is a war and in war there are tragedies and mistakes. It is a war between the free world, of which Israel is a part, and the jihad, of which Hamas is a part. They are trying to attack us from seven fronts and we have no other option but to defeat terrorism. We hope to make zero mistakes. May not one more civilian die in Gaza. They are not our enemies, Hamas is.
Regarding the temporary humanitarian islands in Rafah. What security guarantees do civilians have if the army has attacked areas it had designated as safe?
When we establish a safe zone Hamas knows we will not attack and starts launching rockets from there. It is a group that has mimicked the civilian population and does not repair any type of infrastructure from which to attack: mosques, schools, nursery schools, hospitals…
The UN and humanitarian organizations are talking about restrictions on the access of aid to Gaza. What is Israel doing to deliver aid?
We have allowed the entry of more than 22,500 trucks, with more than 410,000 tons of humanitarian aid. And the entry of between 450 and 500 trucks per day will be normalized.
Will help come to the north?
The distribution of aid in Gaza has never been something that Israel, which currently does not control the entire territory, has been competing with. UNRWA currently has pallets with a lot of food that it is not even managing to distribute.
The UN says that the Israeli army does not guarantee the security of the cast.
Hamas steals aid. It has been thrown on the convoys. We are trying to flood the strip with humanitarian aid. We are working with the United States to establish a maritime corridor from Cyprus. We are working with France, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States to drop aid from the air. We’ve built a new passage to the north to allow more aid to go straight to the civilians.
The leadership of Hamas remains intact except for the death of Maruan Issa, its number three. Do they hope to eliminate the remaining leaders in the Rafah operation?
Neutralizing the other three elements of the Hamas leadership, which are Yahia Sinwar, his brother, Muhammad Sinwar, and Muhammad Deif, is our responsibility. And we do everything in our power to fulfill it.
They talk about the “total destruction” of Hamas, but Emmanuel questioned whether it was possible. How do you plan to achieve it?
Militarily, you cannot destroy an ideology. Yes, we can dismantle the organizational units within which Hamas fights: its chain of command, its battalion commanders… Make sure it does not establish a regime again.
After the war in Gaza, will the fight against Hizbullah continue?
We have more than 60,000 Israelis evacuated to the border with Lebanon. People must return to their homes. We want Hizbullah to go north of the Litani river, to respect United Nations resolution 1701, according to which it cannot have weapons south of this river.
