Days after Elon Musk drew criticism for his endorsement of an anti-Semitic post on X, billionaire Elon Musk visited Israel on Monday (November 27, 2023) and met the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, other officials and victims of the October 7 Hamas atrocities.
Musk, who is the owner of X platform, joined Netanyahu in touring a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas members on October 7.
During the tour of Kfar Aza, Musk was shown the horrors of the Hamas attack, which saw terrorists storm the community and 20 or so others, butchering and burning entire families and kidnapping scores of civilians in Gaza, reported The Times of Israel.
“The rebuttal is often made that well, you know, Israel has killed civilians also in Gaza,” Musk was quoted as saying by the news portal. “But there’s an important difference here, which is that Israel tries to avoid killing civilians, doing everything it can to avoid killing civilians. And, you know, there’s no sort of joy expressed.”
Musk also said that “there’s no choice” but for Israel to destroy Hamas, but that Israel then needs to “help those that remain”, likening a future postwar scenario to the post-World War II US occupation of Germany and Japan.
Netanyahu shared an image of meeting with Musk and posted on X: “I toured Kibbutz Kfar Gaza with Elon Musk to show him up close the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas.”
Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas have decided to extend their temporary truce by two days on Monday (November 27, 2023).
The initially announced four days of the ceasefire ended on Monday.
According to reports, the fresh two-day truce is likely to ensure the release of 20 more hostages held by Hamas.
Also Read: Israel-Gaza crisis: 11 more hostages released from Hamas captivity
Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari confirmed the development on X: “The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the agreement was reached within the framework of the joint mediation between the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the United States of America.
Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari said in line with the commitments of the fourth day of the pause, 33 Palestinians were released in exchange for 11 Israeli hostages in Gaza.
He said that the list of those released from Israeli jails included 30 minors and three women, while the list of Israeli hostages released from Gaza included three French nationals, two German nationals, and six Argentine nationals.
