The Israeli general who headed military intelligence on 7 October 2023 has said 50 Palestinians must die for every person killed that day and \u201cit does not matter now if they are children\u201d, in recordings broadcast by Israel\u2019s Channel 12 TV station.<\/p>\n
Aharon Haliva said the toll in Gaza<\/a>, which he put at more than 50,000 dead, was \u201cnecessary\u201d as a \u201cmessage to future generations\u201d of Palestinians.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need a Nakba every now and then to feel the price,\u201d he added, referring to the mass expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands after the creation of Israel in 1948. Nakba means catastrophe in Arabic.<\/p>\n Much of Israel\u2019s leadership and media has used genocidal rhetoric<\/a> about Palestinians since Hamas\u2019s 7 October attacks, including describing<\/a> them as \u201chuman animals\u201d, saying<\/a> there are \u201cno innocents\u201d in Gaza and calling for Gaza\u2019s total destruction<\/a> and its ethnic cleansing<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, Haliva\u2019s description of a campaign of mass killing including children was an unusually direct description of collective punishment of civilians, which is illegal under international law.<\/p>\n Haliva, who stepped down from his position in April 2024, also appeared to endorse the casualty figures compiled by health authorities in Gaza, which Israeli officials regularly attack as propaganda. They have proved reliable in past conflicts.<\/p>\n Channel 12 said the undated conversations were recorded \u201cin recent months\u201d. The Gaza health ministry\u2019s toll for those killed by Israeli attacks passed 50,000 in March and has recently climbed above 60,000.<\/p>\n