Israeli envoy to India Naor Gilon elucidates what makes ongoing war different from past conflict

As the Israel-Hamas war entered day 11 on Tuesday (17 October), the Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said that the ongoing war is different from the past conflicts. In an exclusive interview with Republic, Gilon shared the plight of Israelis, the horrors inflicted by Hamas terrorists and the support the conflict-stricken country received in the time of crisis. In the thought-provoking conversation, Gilon insisted that Israel will do “the maximum” to counter the evils of Hamas and urged countries around the world to take on those helping Hamas. 

The Jewish country was shaken to the core after the terrorist group unleashed a lethal attack in southern Israel on October 7. "This is not like past events because this is a war, Israel has declared war against Hamas. They were not hesitant to use their population as human shields. There’s no way of releasing the people (hostages) but going in. There’s no other way to reach the planners and executors of these horrendous attacks,” the Israeli envoy told Republic when he was asked what makes the ongoing Israel-Hamas war different from the past clashes.

When asked about why Israel wasn’t able to foresee the attack, Gilon insisted that the intelligence would “look into what went wrong” after the ground operation was over. Gilon went on to give his take on the current situation of the people held hostage by Hamas. “Hamas has left us a lot of videos, they posted several videos of the hostages on social media. They are an ISIS-style organisation and they want to create panic. Israel is going to do the maximum. I want the countries to put pressure on those who help Hamas. Israel is determined to get rid of this threat,” he added. 

On Iran’s involvement

Gilon also touched upon Iran’s involvement in the ongoing conflict. “Maybe we have to take a minute out to discuss Iran’s role in the ongoing crisis. We don’t know enough about the planning of this operation but we know for a fact that for years Iran was training and financing Hamas and they are very much involved in it." Not only this, Gilon recalled how three days ago the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas. "Iran is behind it and there is no doubt and even if not this operation and everything… but they knew, they were there,” he added. The Israeli diplomat insisted that radicals like Hamas don’t want stability in West Asia. “They are trying to destroy everything,” he remarked. 

India-Israel ties

The Israeli ambassador went on to laud India’s support to Israel in the ongoing war. Gilon mentioned how PM Narendra Modi was one of the first leaders to condemn the attack and insisted that India’s support gives Israel the “self-assurance” it needs. “We are strengthened by the support of India in our resilience. It gives more self-assurance and a feeling that we are doing the right thing. I hope one day India will include Hamas in the terror list as many other countries have already,” the Israeli ambassador asserted.

On October 7, when Israel was left completely shocked by the devastating attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became one of the first world leaders to condemn the attacks explicitly. “Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour,” PM Modi wrote on X.

He made it clear that in the ongoing war, Israel is “trying to improve” the situation in Gaza. “Israel is the one who tried to improve the situation in Gaza but it seems Hamas never wanted that,” the Israeli envoy concluded.