An Israeli commander called on his troops to commit genocide in Lebanon, a reservist mental health officer said.
Adi Angert, who serves as a social worker in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)’s Alexandroni Brigade, slammed Lt. Col. Moshe Passal, who assumed duty as the brigade’s new commander on Aug. 21., for calling on his fighters to commit genocide in a missive.
“May the villages of Lebanon become a wasteland, and all its roads become dead ends,” Col. Passal said in the letter.
Angert responded to Passal’s letter in a message she posted on X:
“The brigade has a new commander. First thing he does is greet the fighters with a wish to commit genocide. Charming.”
She also called the radical Zionist community a “cult of Death Eaters” after receiving criticism for her remarks.
Angert was dismissed from her role for her statements upon the calls of far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, notoriously known for her outrageous remarks, where he justifies starving over 2 million Palestinians to death.
Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been exchanging fire, raising fears of a regional war.
U.S. and Arab mediators have been trying to broker a cease-fire in the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, hoping to head off a wider conflagration, and the attacks came as Egypt hosts a new round of talks. Hezbollah has said it will halt the fighting if there is a cease-fire in Gaza. Iran supports both groups as well as other militia groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen who might join any larger conflict.
In its interim ruling issued in January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found it “plausible” that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee aid flow to civilians, but Israel has steadily ignored the World Court.
The United Nations increasingly warns of the “catastrophic humanitarian consequences” of Israel’s military campaign, which has since expanded into southern Gaza’s Rafah region where 1.4 million Palestinians have been taking refuge.
