Former US Secretary of State Pompeo dances with Israeli soldiers

ANKARA (AA)

A former US secretary of state danced brazenly with soldiers of the Israeli army, a force which over the last four months has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly children and women, local media reported.

Mike Pompeo, who served for over two and a half years as secretary of state under President Donald Trump, was received by soldiers of the Armored Corps’ 73rd Battalion in the southern city of Ofakim, according to Israel National News.

As part of Pompeo’s brief visit to Israel together with his wife, he danced in solidarity with the soldiers.

“I’ve been to Israel on numerous occasions. But this visit has been the most poignant and the most heartbreaking. What happened on October 7th was so shocking and so sadistic that the trauma is felt constantly, everywhere by everyone,” he said.

“And yet, their resilience is truly inspiring. I stand with Israel. I stand with the Jewish people.”

In May 2018, under Trump and Pompeo, the US moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, though Israel’s occupation of eastern Jerusalem – the capital of a planned Palestinian state – has never been internationally recognized.

Since October 7, Israel has killed more than 28,000 people in Gaza and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

While Israel continues to disregard the ICJ’s ruling, the US continues its all-out support to it through military, financial and diplomatic means.