Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly delayed a planned transfer of wounded and sick Palestinian children from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for a rocket attack in the occupied Golan Heights over the weekend that killed a dozen kids.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretzreported that Netanyahu ordered the postponement of the operation on Sunday "due to" the deadly rocket attack, which Israel blamed on Hezbollah. The Lebanon-based militant group denied responsibility.
The delayed plan, according to Haaretz, involved "evacuating patients from Gaza for treatment in the United Arab Emirates via Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel."
"The World Health Organization (WHO) was to manage the evacuation, including patient triage, coordination with the [Israel Defense Forces], and funding transportation from Gaza to Ramon Airport," the newspaper added. "A plane carrying approximately 250 patients was scheduled to depart Israel on Sunday."
Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI) denounced Netanyahu's decision to postpone the transfer as "cruel and dangerous."
"The immense grief over the 12 children killed in Majdal Shams must not be exploited for cynical political moves. Endangering sick Gazan children won't bring back those lost," the group wrote on social media. "Following Israel's destruction of Gaza's healthcare system, PHRI has been advocating and taking legal action to force Israel to establish procedures for evacuating thousands of sick and wounded Gazans requiring medical care not available locally."
"This evacuation delay once more exposes Israel's disregard for the lives of children and innocent civilians in Gaza," PHRI added. "Vengeance is not a legitimate policy."
Gaza children have been devastated by Israel's nearly 10-month war on the besieged Palestinian enclave. Israeli forces have killed more than 14,000 Palestinian children in Gaza since October, and tens of thousands more are wounded or missing.
Noa Landau, Haaretz's deputy editor-in-chief, wrote Monday that Netanyahu's order delaying the evacuation of ill and injured kids from Gaza was "miserable" and "stupid."
"Harming children to avenge the blood of other children," she added.
In the wake of the rocket attack in the Golan Heights on Saturday, Israel "struck Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanon," according toThe Washington Post, intensifying fears of an all-out regional war.
The Biden administration, which has aided Israel's assault on Gaza with military and diplomatic support, warned the Israeli government that "the situation would likely spiral out of control" if it bombs Lebanon's capital in response to the Golan Heights attack, Axiosreported Sunday.