Dear Priyanka,
I walked into homes shattered not just by rockets, but by the sheer brutality of Hamas’s October 7 attack. I sat across from fathers who had buried their children, mothers who spoke in broken voices about the last phone call they received before the line went silent forever. In one living room, I saw a child’s bicycle untouched in the corner — its owner now gone, murdered in cold blood.
I met families who are living a different kind of torment — their loved ones are still alive, but held hostage in Gaza. Parents spoke of nights spent staring at the ceiling, wondering if their child is cold, hungry, or even still breathing. Their pain is raw, yet their determination is unyielding: they want their family members back, and they want the world to remember them.
This was not a military target. These were not “combatants.” They were ordinary people — students, farmers, nurses, children — massacred or abducted solely for being Israeli.
Seeing their grief up close stripped away all the noise of political spin. It was clear: this is not a conflict of equals. It is terrorism versus humanity. And humanity must win.
I read your recent remarks on Israel and Palestine with a mix of disbelief and disappointment. You accused the Israeli state of committing “genocide,” claiming it has “murdered over 60,000 people, 18,430 of whom were children,” starved hundreds to death, and is threatening millions more. You called the Indian Government’s position “shameful” for allegedly remaining silent.
What is truly shameful, however, is the dangerous mix of half-truths, selective outrage, and propaganda you have chosen to repeat. In the age of instant information, leaders — even those who inherit their positions rather than earn them — have a responsibility to speak with facts, not recycled talking points from terrorist mouthpieces.
The figures you quote — 60,000 dead, 18,430 children — come directly from the “Gaza Health Ministry.” What you omit is that this “ministry” is run entirely by Hamas, a terrorist organisation designated as such by the United States, the European Union, India’s strategic partners, and even several Arab nations. This is not a neutral statistical agency — it is the propaganda wing of a group that has no qualms about inflating numbers, hiding combatant deaths, and using civilian casualties as currency in its war for international sympathy.
Israel’s actual figures — verified through independent intelligence and on-ground battle data — state that of the dead, 25,000 were Hamas terrorists. That’s not genocide; that’s the neutralisation of armed militants who had massacred Israeli civilians in cold blood on October 7, raped women, abducted children, and vowed publicly to repeat it “again and again.”
War is horrific. No civilian death is acceptable. But the moral and legal responsibility for the civilian toll in Gaza lies squarely with Hamas. They embed their fighters in apartment buildings, store weapons in schools and hospitals, and launch rockets from playgrounds. They even shoot Palestinians trying to flee combat zones or collect humanitarian aid.
Israel, by contrast, warns civilians before striking — dropping leaflets, sending text messages, making phone calls. Name me one other military in the world that gives its enemy advance notice before attacking.
When Hamas hides behind civilians, those civilians become human shields. The tragedy is that many die. The crime is that Hamas makes sure they do.
You accuse Israel of “starving” Palestinians. Here are the facts you ignore: Israel has facilitated over 2 million tonnes of food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies into Gaza during this conflict. The primary obstacle to this aid reaching civilians is Hamas, which seizes and hoards aid to supply its fighters, sell in black markets, or reward loyalty.
Israel is not the cause of Gaza’s food crisis — Hamas is. And you, Priyanka, by parroting Hamas’s narrative, are helping shield the guilty and blame the innocent.
You say it is “shameful” that the Indian Government has not condemned Israel. I say it is responsible that India stands by a democratic ally that was brutally attacked by a terrorist group whose ideology mirrors that of the forces that have attacked India for decades.
India knows the pain of terrorism. We have lost thousands to Pakistan-sponsored jihad. You too lost a loved one due to an act of terrorism. When Israel supports their right to defend themselves against such terror, should we turn around and condemn them for doing the same? That would be the real shame.
Where was your voice when Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israeli cities, targeting schools and homes? Where were your tears for the families slaughtered in their living rooms on October 7? Where was your condemnation when Hamas abducted babies and elderly women, holding them in underground tunnels without sunlight, food, or medicine? Where is your voice for the release of the remaining hostages?
You are silent on these crimes because acknowledging them would destroy the neat, one-sided narrative you’ve chosen.
Priyanka, you are not just an individual — you are a political figure in one of the world’s largest democracies. Your words carry weight internationally. By repeating Hamas’s inflated numbers and distorted accusations, you give moral cover to a terrorist organisation that thrives on the deaths of its own people.
It is one thing to disagree with Israel’s military strategy. It is another to accuse it of genocide while ignoring the very real genocidal intent of Hamas, whose founding charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish people.
It is easy to score political points by appealing to emotion and outrage. It is harder to face the uncomfortable truth: Hamas started this war with the deliberate massacre of civilians, and every day it prolongs it by hiding behind the very people you claim to defend.
If you truly care about the lives of Palestinians, your voice should demand that Hamas surrenders, releases hostages, and stops using civilians as shields. That is the fastest path to ending this war and saving lives.
Silence in the face of terrorism is indeed a crime. But siding with the terrorists — even rhetorically — is worse.
