The Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria and Permanent Representative of Israel to ECOWAS, Michael Freeman, has said that whatever Israel is doing to protect its citizens in the war against Hamas is exactly what any normal country will do.

He however stated that Israel and Palestine will eventually make peace and become friends again since the war in Gaza is not between the two nations but between Israel and Hamas.

Ambassador Freeman, who spoke exclusively to The Guardian, stated that since October 7, when the Hamas group began the assault against Israel, over 9,000 rockets have been fired against civilian population in Israel.

“People really need to understand what happened. We are talking about going house to house, shooting innocent people, torturing them in the middle of the street, torturing children in front of their parents, torturing parents in front of their children, burning people alive.

“Anyone who wants to see peace between Israel and Palestine will not see it if Hamas is there. There cannot be peace if Hamas is there”, Ambassador Freeman said.

He reiterated that ongoing hostility in the Middle East is not a religious war and should not be misunderstood as such.

“This is not a religious war. This is not a war between Israel and Palestine. This is a war between Israel and Hamas, a war between good and evil, between civilization and brutality, and people need to decide where they stand.

“We have seen Boko Haram and ISWAP, they kill Christians and Muslims, they killing whoever they want; terrorists kill whoever they want to kill. This is not, and has never been about religion, it is about terror and evil.

“We have seen Christian religious leaders, Muslim religious leaders, who have been in touch with me and they said to me: “This is not Islam.” They held that what Hamas did has nothing to do with Islam. What I have in common with my Muslim and Christian brothers and sisters is much more than anyone has in common with this Hamas, we need to understand that it is not about that.”

“Adding: “It is not even about Israel and Palestine because eventually, Israel will make peace with the Palestinians. We are going to make peace because the Palestinians and Israelis are there, they are not going anywhere.

So, we have to make peace and we will make peace but anyone who wants peace needs to see that Hamas are no longer around because we cannot have peace when Hamas is there.”