‘Strictly My Opinion…’ Elon Musk Weighs in on Gaza War, Israel’s Response to Hamas Attack – News18

Billionaire Elon Musk has once again weighed in on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas days after he was slammed for the awkward joke on the conflict during Joe Rogan’s show. In an interview with popular US-based podcaster Lex Freidman, Musk said there is no easy answer in the dictionary when you look at the picture of the Middle East.

“…Strictly my opinion is that the goal of Hamas was to provoke an overreaction from Israel. They (Hamas) didn’t expect to have a military victory. They really wanted to commit the worst atrocities they could in order to provoke the most aggressive response possible from Israel and leverage that response to rally Muslims worldwide for the cause of Gaza and Palestine,” the Tesla CEO said. “The counterintuitive thing that should be done, even though it is difficult is that: Israel should engage in the most conspicuous acts of kindness possible,” he added.

Musk went on to add that it is appropriate for Israel to find Hamas members, “either kill them or incarcerate them.” However, he also vouched for humanitarian aid in Gaza, including the establishment of a mobile hospital. The world’s richest man, who is often vocal about controversial topics, recommended Israel to be very transparent about every aspect of the war so that “people can’t claim it is a trick.”

The war, now in its second month, was triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel that killed 1,400 people. About 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group. The number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen to over 10,800, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said. In the West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence.

In the wake of growing Palestinian casualties in Gaza, Musk elaborated on his position saying, “The question is like for every Hamas member you kill, how many you create? If you create more than you kill, then you have not succeeded.” “It is safe to say that if you kill somebody’s child in Gaza, you have made at least a few Hamas members who will die just to kill an Israeli,” he added.

Elon Musk recently came under scrutiny for his social media platform, X, allegedly spreading misinformation regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, the platform has assured the public that it is addressing the crisis with the highest level of response.