An Israeli mother whose 12- and 16-year-old sons were abducted by Hamas terrorists was visibly irritated when MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell asked about Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, exclaiming: “I can’t be sympathetic.”
Mitchell, whose left-leaning network has drawn criticism for refusing to refer to Hamas attackers as terrorists, pressed the unidentified mom on her feelings about Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
“I can’t be sympathetic to animal human beings — well, they’re not really human beings — who came into my house, broke everything, stole everything, took my children from their bedrooms and took them to the Gaza Strip,” she said.
“Israel never done that, and it will never do. So there is no symmetry! I’m sorry.”
The mom added: “If you were dealing with a war who is between two countries, countries don’t take children hostages. I’m sorry. It’s against the laws of war. It’s against humanity. It’s against anything that we all believe in.”
“Every time we had missiles shot at us, I used to say to my children that they should be sympathetic towards the children of Gaza because they suffer a lot more than they do.”
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The mother demanded that Israel’s government make repatriating the hostages in Gaza its “first priority.”
“I think any mother in the world should try and imagine her children under that situation and then think again,” the woman said.
“That’s all I want.”
The Post has sought comment from Mitchell and MSNBC.
The Comcast-owned channel has come under fire for its commentary and coverage of the events in Israel and Gaza.
Dan Abrams of NewsNation blasted MSNBC on Monday for “victim blaming” while Anti-Defamation League chairman Jonathan Greenblatt wondered if Hamas was “writing the script” for the news channel.
At least 1,000 Israelis were killed by Hamas gunmen who crossed over the Israel-Gaza border early Saturday.
Reports suggest that Hamas members beheaded babies and children during their deadly rampage through towns on the Gaza frontier.
Hamas terrorists also took scores of soldiers and civilians, including elderly women and children, hostage.
The Israeli military has responded with an aerial bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Health officials in Gaza put the Palestinian death toll at more than 700 people as of Tuesday.
