IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari. (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The IDF Spokesperson issued a statement today (Monday) strongly rejecting a claim made yesterday by former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon, per which the IDF was committing "ethnic cleansing" in the Gaza Strip.
In response to the allegations, which received a great deal of media attention all throughout Sunday, the Spokesperson told reporters that "the IDF acts in accordance with international law, and evacuates populations based on operational need and on a temporary basis, in order to protect it."
Hagari then said that "The IDF rejects the serious claims of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, which harm the IDF and its soldiers."
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Yaalon's claims were "reckless and irresponsible."