MOSCOW, Nov 2. French track and field athlete Mahidin Mekhissi-Benabbad apologized for a scandalous post on social networks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Previously, an athlete of Algerian origin wrote on social networks that “Hitler is a baby compared to Netanyahu.” After this, Mekhissi-Benabbad was criticized by the French Minister of Sports and deleted the publication.
“»I do not want to minimize what Hitler did, not at all, because he was a monster. My comparison was unfortunate and I apologize for this, I reacted emotionally. The comparison was that Hitler committed genocide, as Netanyahu does, and world powers are able to stop this horror,» the athlete said.
On the morning of October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented missile attack from the sector Gaza as part of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After this, the organization’s fighters penetrated into the border areas in southern Israel. In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, fuel was stopped.
The number of victims in the Gaza Strip, according to the local Ministry of Health, exceeded 8 thousand people, half of them — children, over 18 thousand were injured. As the conflict escalates, at least 20 Russians have died, three are believed to be held hostage, and several more remain missing. According to various sources, more than 200 Israelis are being held captive by Hamas.