‘Slaughter’: Kevin Maguire Defends ‘Emotive’ Description Of Gaza Death Toll After Tory Peer’s Criticism
In a heated debate on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday Daily Mirror editor Kevin Maguire pushed back on Conservative Lord Edward Vaizey’s accusations that he was using “emotive language” to describe the scale of the Gazan death toll to date.
Maguire was explaining how it might be difficult for Israel to return its former strategy of bombardment after the ongoing hostage exchange truce ends, given the “scale of the killing” Gazans have suffered.
The panel on Good Morning Britain happened after a weekend in which Israeli hostages October 7th and imprisoned Palestinians were released as part of a fragile four-day truce in Gaza. U.S. President Joe Biden indicated that he hoped the ceasefire would be extended beyond the Monday deadline, but Israel had indicated its campaign against Hamas would continue.
“Make no mistake,” Vaizey said, “there is no doubt in my mind that Israel will go back to its war with Hamas once this process is over.”
Maguire responded, highlighting the complexity of the hostage situation: “Hamas doesn’t hold all the hostages. Islamic Jihad and some other groups have some of them too.”
He continued: “Now that those hostages should never have been seized, they should all be released, but the pressure will increase on [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu, as you see the joy and relief on the faces and in the words of the families who are being reunited.”
Vaizey challenged Maguire’s language choice: “Well, I think you’re using really emotive words there. I mean it is the worst attack on Israel, on Jews, since the Holocaust. It was absolutely horrific, the idea that they are going into Gaza to slaughter people is just nonsense.”
“We used emotive words, and correctly, to describe the barbarity of October 7th…” Maguire said.
Interrupting, Vaizey insisted: “Quite rightly too. They weren’t emotive words, they were accurate words…”
Maguire continued: “But Palestinian women and children and innocent civilians, their lives count as much. They’re not second class lives, they are not disposable…”
Vaizey interjected, focusing again on Maguire’s language: “But by using the word slaughter…”
Maguire then pressed back: “How would you describe the slaughter of 14,000 people? How would you describe it? No, no, no, Ed.”
As the fragile ceasefire in Gaza comes to a close, experts and officials warn of the severe repercussions of renewed hostilities. The region, already in the throes of an acute humanitarian crisis, could face further devastation.
Quoted in the Guardian, Miri Eisin, a former Israeli military intelligence specialist and head of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, expressed scepticism about the truce’s durability.
“I can’t see the truce lasting more than a week,” Eisin said. She explained that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) aim to incapacitate Hamas’s terror and military capabilities, which she believes necessitates a “systematic and careful ground operation.”
The IDF’s estimates suggest that between 1,000 and 2,000 Hamas fighters have been eliminated, those numbers among the 13,000 Gazans killed overall. The IDF assesses Hamas to be around 30,000 strong.
Despite Netanyahu’s vow to dismantle Hamas, the group maintains its coherence as both a military and political entity, evidenced by its ability to negotiate over hostages.
