Gazans are to blame for the current crisis which has claimed at least 1,900 Palestinian lives, mainly civilians, according to an Israeli retired general.
Giora Eiland made the comment in an open letter, published on Israeli website Ynet News, where he also said there is no such thing as 'innocent civilians' in Gaza.
In his opinion piece, Eiland said Palestinians in Gaza, which he defined as "cruel", "are to blame for this situation just like Germany's residents were to blame for electing Hitler as their leader and paid a heavy price for that, and rightfully so".
Speaking about Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas, Eiland said: "Hamas is not a terror organisation which came from afar and forcibly occupied Gaza. It's the authentic representative of the population there.
"The Gazans' suffering is not the result of the Israeli pressure but of their support, through their elected government, for an armed struggle.
"We should have declared war against the state of Gaza (rather than against the Hamas organization), and in a war, the moment it begins, the right thing to do is to shut down the crossings, prevent the entry of any goods, including food, and definitely prevent the supply of gas and electricity.
"Because we want to be compassionate towards those cruel people, we are committing to act cruelly towards the really compassionate people – the residents of the State of Israel."
Eiland went on to explain, in his letter, that Hamas and Gazan civilians are not two separate entities.
Giora Eiland
"We must avoid the artificial, wrong and dangerous distinction between the Hamas people, who are 'the bad guys', and Gaza's residents, which are allegedly 'the good guys'. We are dealing with an enemy state, not with a terror organisation which is seemingly operating from within an innocent civilian population."
