'India's freedom of speech regulated by Israel?': Congress questions after envoy Reuven Azar ‘targets' Priyanka Gandhi
In a strongly worded post on social media platform X, Khera slammed Reuven Azar, stating that him 'targeting' a sitting Member of the Indian Parliament is 'both unprecedented and intolerable.'
The Congress leader further tagged S Jaishankar, questioning if 'freedom of speech in India' had now 'begun to be regulated from Israel."
Following Priyanka Gandhi's post on X, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar accused the Congress leader of spreading 'deceit' and presented Israel's version of the conflict's toll.
'What is shameful is your deceit. Israel killed 25,000 Hamas terrorists. The terrible cost in human lives derives from Hamas's heinous tactics of hiding behind civilians, their shooting of people trying to evacuate or receive assistance and their rocket fire,' Azar said in his post.
The Israeli diplomat's post comes after Priyanka Gandhi alleged that Israel 'murdered over 60,000 people, 18,430 of whom were children', starved hundreds to death, and was threatening to starve millions more.
'Enabling these crimes by silence and inaction is a crime in itself.
It is shameful that the Indian Government stands silent as Israel unleashes this devastation on the people of Palestine,' she wroteon X, on Tuesday.
Apart from Pawan Khera, Congress's Gaurav Gogoi also hit out at the Israeli ambassador, stating that the 'Parliament cannot remain a passive spectator.'
"The disparaging comments made by a foreign Ambassador against a Member of Parliament of India is a serious breach of privilege. Even if the Union Government is silent, the Parliament cannot remain a passive spectator..." he said on X.
Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma also strongly condemned the remarks of the Israeli Ambassador to India, "denying" the humanitarian crisis of Gaza, saying that the language used by the Israeli representative and "undiplomatic, distasteful and unacceptable," while the brutality, destruction of schools, hospitals and mass starvation is taking place.
As Israel continues its bombardment, the IDF said it has approved the "framework" for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, days after the security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza City, reported AFP.
On Tuesday, Gaza's Health Ministry reported that five more Palestinians have died from hunger, bringing the total number of starvation-related deaths to 227, including 103 children.
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