On Wednesday, Israel’s embassy in Mexico strongly denounced the violent act of destroying a wax figure of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu by a pro-Palestinian protester at a museum in Mexico City.
The incident was captured on video and shared by a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel account on X on Tuesday. The post was accompanied by the message: “This is for Gaza.”
The video depicts the activist placing a Palestinian flag at the base of the statue, spraying it with red paint, striking it with a hammer, and then knocking it over.
“The attack carried out on the statue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an odious act which sends a dangerous message of violence, intolerance and hate that goes beyond all legitimate criticism,” stated the Israeli embassy in a press release.
The embassy also emphasized that Israel’s actions in Gaza were part of “a just struggle [in Gaza] against a terrorist organization whose cruel actions cost the lives of numerous civilians, including Mexican citizens.”
Furthermore, it expressed hope that Mexico’s cultural institutions would implement measures to prevent similar acts of vandalism in the future.
Since the attacks on October 7, 2023, in which Hamas militants killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages, Israel has been engaged in conflict with the Hamas terror group in Gaza. The fighting led to the deaths of many civilians, with the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reporting over 45,000 deaths, though this figure remains unverifiable and does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. According to Israel, 18,000 fighters have been killed, along with another 1,000 terrorists on October 7 itself.
Israel maintains that it strives to minimize civilian casualties, pointing out that Hamas deliberately uses civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian sites like homes, schools, hospitals, and mosques.
In addition to Hamas, Israel has also been contending with Iran-backed militias on other fronts. These include groups such as the Houthis in Yemen, which the protester alluded to when he yelled, “Long live Palestine, Sudan, Yemen and Puerto Rico” after knocking down the wax figure.
It remains unclear why the protester mentioned Sudan—currently in the midst of its own civil war—or Puerto Rico, a US territory.
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