New York Governor Kathy Hochul (Reuters)
New York Governor Kathy Hochul apologized on Friday for statements she made at a Jewish charity event in New York City, where she said that Israel had a justification for destroying the Gaza Strip after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation.
"If Canada attacks Buffalo one day, I'm sorry, my friends, there will be no Canada the next," Hochul said, part of her speech Thursday at a United Jewish Appeal event in New York.
She added, "This is a natural reaction. You have the right to defend yourself and make sure this does not happen again. This is Israel's right."
Yesterday, Friday, the New York Governor said, in a statement reported by the New York Times, that she regretted the “inappropriate analogy” and apologized for her “poor choice of words.”
She said in a statement, "While I have been clear in my support of Israel's right to self-defense, I have repeatedly said and continue to believe that Palestinian civilian casualties should be avoided, and that more humanitarian aid should be sent to the people of Gaza."
Israeli aggression
Israel launched an aggression against the Gaza Strip following the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance factions in response to the escalating Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and their sanctities in occupied Jerusalem.
The devastating Israeli war on Gaza led to the martyrdom of nearly 29,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, the leveling of a large part of the densely populated Strip to the ground, and the displacement of almost all of its residents.
The humanitarian crisis has also left the Gaza Strip's population of more than two million on the brink of famine.
The United Nations called for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, which the United States opposes, saying it would allow the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to reorganize its ranks.
Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters