LONDON: Israel has come under fire for posting hundreds of rocket emojis on the state’s Twitter account on Monday amid its heavy bombardment of Gaza.
The social media account, reportedly managed by the foreign minister, claimed that the posts refer to the number of rockets fired at Israeli citizens by Hamas.
Israel clarified that the tweets were merely an attempt to give viewers a perspective on the recent airstrikes.
The tweets were accompanied by a message that read: “Just to give you all some perspective, these (rocket emojis) are the total amount of rockets shot at Israeli civilians. Each one of these rockets is meant to kill. Make no mistake. Every rocket has an address. What would you do if that address was yours?”
Critics argued, however, that the posts, which came amid fresh Israeli strikes on Gaza, were insensitive.
The Israeli bombing campaign has killed at least 213 Palestinians so far, including 61 children, with more than 1,400 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The tweets were met with heavy criticism online. Louis Fishman, an associate professor at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, tweeted that “Israel has lost the diplomatic front in this war. It is now left to emojis. Really, this is pathetic.”
Others online called the tweet “sickeningly cruel and vindictive”, “deranged” and “beyond vile.”
Israel has escalated its violent campaign on Palestine, with more than 52,000 Palestinians displaced and hundreds of buildings destroyed in the Gaza Strip.
