Tamar Ziv, Israel's ambassador to Kosovo, has said that the Hamas organization is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian people. She added that if Hamas had not attacked Israel on October 7 of last year, there would have been no consequences for the Palestinian people. Furthermore, Ziv said that organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah try to hide behind the civilian population.
Full interview:
KOHA: One year after the October 7 massacre, how would you describe Israel a year later?
Tamar Ziv: As you said, this week we marked one year since the October 7 massacre. This has been an extremely difficult year for every Israeli. As you know, in the massacre of October 7, more than 1200 people were killed, burned, raped, tortured... babies, elderly, Holocaust survivors, without any distinction. And 250 Israeli citizens were kidnapped and taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. To date, 101 hostages are still in the Gaza Strip, in the worst possible conditions. Since October 7, unfortunately, we have been in a very difficult fight with Hamas and Hezbollah, who decided to join forces with Hamas on October 8, and without any provocation, began to fight against Israel. Shooting and launching rockets, until today from Lebanon, more than 10 thousand shells of various types have been launched into the territory of Israel, and 9.500 from Gaza. So this has been a very difficult year, this has actually been a year in which Israel has fought on seven fronts. Unfortunately, we have been fighting Hamas in Gaza, Hamas in the West Bank, Hezbollah in Lebanon, additional Iranian-backed groups, Shia militias in Iraq, Shia militias in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, and of course, as we call it, the head of all of this is Iran. Iran is the head of the octopus, and it is sending its weapons to the seven groups it supports, which I mentioned, but the root of all this violence and this whole war is Iran.
KOHA: A year later, we are talking about some other circumstances, knowing the fact that there have already been at least two direct attacks from Iran, and Israel has announced that soon, we will see when, there will be an answer to the second attack, which happened a few days ago. What are the circumstances now in the region and what are the risks that the conflict could expand to other states?
Tamar Ziv: After as you know, on April 14, Iran had decided to launch more than 200 ballistic missiles and other long-range missiles towards Israel, and just a few days ago, they decided for the second time to launch these missiles , in response to, I think, the damage we've done to their favorite groups they support, Hezbollah, who over the last two weeks, after trying for months to push for a diplomatic solution to the situation in Lebanon and trying through the international community to convince Hezbollah to break the ties it had created, that as long as they fight in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah will fight Israel from the north. Therefore, we decided to change the game and started to fight more vigorously against Hezbollah. And Hezbollah is the organization, in which Iran has invested more than 1 billion dollars every year, to build their military capabilities, which we are only now discovering, how they created these capabilities. Because we are now conducting some operations in the southern part of Lebanon, we are finding that in almost every village in the southern part of Lebanon, in almost every house there are quantities of weapons, rockets and grenades, and communication equipment, and so on. So this extreme military preparation, whose purpose was to carry out an attack similar to the one on October 7 in northern Israel, revealed something that Iran had been planning and preparing for more than 20 years. And also now, Iran attacked us unilaterally, and of course, I think Israel has no choice but to respond.
TIME: Let's focus on a different perspective on what has been going on for over a year now. And that is the narrative of the war, and if it is the current narrative and the hybrid war that is meant to distort Israel's intentions to fight these terrorist groups.
Tamar Ziv: I think there's been a terrible distortion of the narrative around the world, and I think the world has really forgotten what happened on October 7. The fact that Hamas decided to deeply attack Israel, with thousands and thousands of its fighters, to commit crimes against humanity of the worst, indeed the most horrific kinds, rape, torture, mutilation, burning alive, etc. . And the fact is that they have been holding our hostages for a year. This war could have ended a long time ago, if Hamas would return the hostages, and decide to look after the Palestinian people, not its tenets of jihadist ideology. Hamas is the one who is really to blame for the suffering, the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people. I think the Palestinian people have experienced a very difficult period, but the one responsible for this is Hamas. If Hamas had not attacked Israel, if Hamas had been willing to make a deal on the hostages and return all our people, if Hamas had been willing to withdraw from the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, and not made the civilian population as human shields for them, then the whole situation in Gaza would be completely different. But it is part of Hamas's ideology – as it is Hezbollah's – to surround itself with the civilian population. To create their headquarters inside hospitals, inside schools, inside mosques... And then it is very difficult to fight a terrorist organization, which is embedded within the civilian population, in such a large way, and in addition, building a underground city, with tunnels in the Gaza Strip, without harming the civilian population. It was never our intention to harm the civilian population, and I think Israel, the military, has done more than any military in the world to try to protect the Palestinian civilian population. By creating areas like in Mawasi, an area in which we have called on people to evacuate, so that they are more protected. Enabling humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, despite the fighting, and making sure that large amounts of aid are distributed, trying to address problems like disease and so on. Warning people to leave certain areas so they don't get hurt. Therefore, I think that the Israeli army has done many actions throughout this year in order to minimize the damage and suffering of the civilian population in Gaza. I am very sorry that Hamas does not care at all about their civilians, and is doing the opposite.
KOHA: Likewise, we have recently also seen statements by various countries, which are traditionally allies of Israel, including the USA, which at some points had discussions regarding support for Israel, regarding armaments, and also France, just a few days ago we had the French president, speaking and mentioning the possibility of an embargo against Israel. How does the Israeli Government see this approach of the allies during this period?
Tamar Ziv: I think the United States has stood by Israel tremendously from the beginning, with the events of October 7th and of course even before that, but now we're talking about this in particular. We can only thank the United States and President Biden and the administration for the support they have given Israel throughout this very difficult year. They spare no effort to support you in any way they can. Including bringing their military assets into the region in order to protect Israel. As for France, especially since France knows what the situation is like in Lebanon and how, in fact, Hezbollah has taken over the state of Lebanon and, in fact, has been the force that has more or less controlled the politics there, and so on, it is quite surprising that they have decided to turn a blind eye to what Hezbollah is doing, and by threatening Israel with the cessation of arms sales.
KOHA: Ambassador, in your opinion, with all the developments that we are seeing in other parts of the world, and what is happening in the region, in the Middle East, can we talk about any change in the world order?
Tamar Ziv: It's a good question. I think it's pretty clear that countries like Iran are active, trying to fight against democratic countries, not only in the Middle East, but as you can see, also the harmful actions regarding Ukraine, and other regions. . So, I don't know, I think we have faced for many years the democratic world against autocracies or dictatorships, etc. It's hard to say if this is a complete reversal of the world order, but it's pretty clear who's on which side.
KOHA: Let's also focus on the developments in Kosovo and in our region. How do you see the developments in the Western Balkans, when we have often seen mention of Russian influence, mainly through Serbia. Do you see that there could be an escalation of the situation in the Balkans as well?
Tamar Ziv: I really hope that there will be no escalation of the situation in the Balkans, that the dialogue process will be able to progress and an agreement will be reached, which would be useful to bring real peace to the Balkans as well. Undoubtedly, the developments that occur in other regions can affect other regions, but I hope that this does not happen in the Balkans.
KOHA: And in this whole situation created in different parts of the world, how much attention does Kosovo have on the international agenda?
Tamar Ziv: I think some regions are getting the most attention around the world, unfortunately and of course the first is Ukraine and Russia, and over the last year, it's been Gaza and I think it's gotten all the global attention. And I think that there are difficult developments that are happening in other regions of the world, such as in Sudan and other countries and I suppose the Balkans is getting attention, but not as much attention as these other conflicts, which unfortunately are very bloody conflicts.
KOHA: Ambassador, we're coming to the end of this interview, and I'd like to ask you about some predictions. There have been ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas with mediators, such as Egypt and Qatar, but we are also witnessing the escalation in the north with Lebanon, with the war with Hezbollah, do you see that there will be a ceasefire soon? Or in your opinion, what would be the prediction that will happen in the future, or how soon the wars will end?
Tamar Ziv: It is difficult to be a prophet and give predictions about what will happen. I can only hope that the fact that Hezbollah has been soundly defeated over the last two weeks will change something in the thinking of the leaders of Hezbollah and Iran, and that this will of course affect Sinwari in Gaza as well. For the first time in a year, we have heard the interim leader of Hezbollah say they are willing to consider a ceasefire, and for the first time they have not made a connection between the ongoing fighting in Lebanon and Hamas. So this could be a positive sign, that something is changing in their thinking and that they would be willing to reach some form, at some point, a diplomatic agreement, that would push Hezbollah back, at least 10 kilometers. And of course, then there would have to be arrangements in terms of armaments and other matters. And I really hope that Sinwari will see that he no longer has the support of Hezbollah and that the reality has changed, hopefully he too will understand the need to reach a solution for the hostages and hopefully reach an agreement on the release of these hostages. So with the hope that it will be possible to reach a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, as well, and then start talking about who and how Gaza would be managed, how it would be rebuilt, one day after that. So, I really hope that very soon in another direction there will be a ceasefire and a regional agreement.
