DeSantis says Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza is ‘not collective punishment’ for Palestinians

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Israel’s counteroffensive against Palestinian militant group is “not collective punishment,” for the 2.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

Asked on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” if collective punishment is something he supports, DeSantis said, “It’s not collective punishment. Hamas is the one that is creating this predicament. Hamas is the one who always uses civilian targets to conduct operations.”

Pointing to Hamas’s reported conversion of religious infrastructure into militant base operations, DeSantis, who is also running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, said such infrastructure needs to be treated as a military target.

“So under normal circumstances, of course you don’t target a religious institution, but if you have terrorist groups that are converting that into a base of operations, then you absolutely treat that as military targets,” DeSantis said. “But that’s because Hamas is making those decisions to covert that…infrastructure into the use for terrorist purposes.”

Fighting raged on for the eighth day on Sunday in Israel and Gaza, following Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, invading multiple Israeli towns by land, sea and air which resulted in Israel sending a barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Israel was quick to ratchet up a major counteroffensive and has since launched hundreds of air strikes into Gaza. The strikes destroyed dozens of neighborhoods and forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes.

Israel warned an estimated 1.1 million people in Gaza to evacuate ahead of an expected ground attack by Israeli forces. Meanwhile, Hamas is reportedly telling residents not to leave and to instead stay in their home.

“So they’re using the civilians as human shields,” DeSantis said. “So, of course when you’re in a war, you want to avoid that. but if there are civilian casualties, that’s the fault of Hamas, that’s not going to be the fault of Israel.”

Adding to growing crisis is Israel’s siege over water, food and electricity on the territory’s already depleting resources. When asked what he would advise the Israeli military to avoid attacking basic infrastructure, DeSantis pointed to Hamas’s capture of hostages.

“The Hamas is holding people hostage,” DeSantis said. “Still, you have Israelis being held hostage as well as Americans being held….I don’t think they’re under an obligation to be providing water in these utilities, while those hostages are being held.”

DeSantis argued Hamas should return the hostages “before any discussions are had,” and that Israel has “every right to use all the pressure that they can,” to allow for the release of hostages.

U.S. officials have confirmed Americans are among the hostages, though the exact number is not known. The State Department said Saturday 15 American citizens remain unaccounted for, though U.S. officials have emphasized this does not mean they all are being held hostage.

The death toll from both sides climbed to over 3,600 as of Saturday, with thousands more injured since the militant group’s attacks last weekend. The State Department on Saturday upped confirmed American casualties to 27.

In Gaza, an estimated 2,329 Palestinians have died and 9,042 were injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Authorities in Israel said over 1,300 Israelis have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them civilians killed in Hamas’s deadly surprise attack last weekend, according to The Associated Press(AP.).