Nikki Haley writes ‘finish them!’ on Israeli shell

A prominent US politician has been branded “disgusting” after a controversial act with a marker pen during an overseas trip.

Former US presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has been photographed writing “finish them!” on an Israeli shell as she toured sites near the northern border with Lebanon.

The photograph was posted on X on Tuesday by Danny Danon, a member of the Israeli parliament and former ambassador to the United Nations, who was accompanying Ms Haley on her visit.

“‘Finish Them’. This is what my friend the former ambassador Nikki Haley wrote,” Mr Danon said in his post that showed a kneeling Ms Haley writing on a shell with a purple marker pen.

Another photo showed Ms Haley signed the message on the 155mm high-explosive projectile with “America [loves] Israel always”.

Nikki Haley was seen signing an Israeli shell. Picture: X

The photo comes days after a deadly Israeli strike on a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, was believed to have killed 45 people, mostly women and children. Israel has claimed it targeted two Hamas fighters who were killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the strike was tragic mishap” which his government was “investigating”.

Greek politician Yanis Varoufakis was one of a number of commentators who slammed Ms Haley’s actions as distasteful.

Nikki Hailey in Israel scribbling "FINISH THEM"on the shells that the IDF is about to fire into Rafah in defiance of the International Court of Justice. Biden provided the shells, Republicans autograph them. The US political class is united in its complicity with this genocide. pic.twitter.com/hejqVAjq8M

— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) May 28, 2024

“Nikki Hailey [sic] in Israel scribbling ‘FINISH THEM’ on the shells that the IDF is about to fire into Rafah in defiance of the International Court of Justice,” he wrote on X.

“Biden provided the shells, Republicans autograph them. The US political class is united in its complicity with this genocide.”

Another popular social media account wrote, “Yeah this ain’t it, signing bombs is f’d up. Nikki Haley is disgusting.”

‘America loves Israel always.’ Picture: X

Ms Haley, 52, was a hawkish UN envoy under Donald Trump, and her term overlapped with Mr Danon.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,096 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Ms Haley abandoned her White House bid in March after heavy defeats in Republican primary contests to Mr Trump, and last week said that she would vote for him in the election.

Mr Trump has ruled her out of contention to be his Vice President, but she is a potential presidential runner in 2028.

The White House said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden has no plans to change his Israel policy following a deadly weekend strike on Rafah but that he is not turning a “blind eye” to the plight of Palestinian civilians.

During her trip to the Israel-Gaza border, Ms Haley met with one of the survivors of the October 7 attacks.

Ms Haley meets with Hamas attack survivor Tali Biner. Picture: Amir Levy/Getty Images

“Like my daughter, Tali Biner is a nurse in her 20s who loves music and her friends,” she wrote on X.

“But, her life changed forever at the Nova Music Festival. For hours she hid, praying not to be next, listening to fellow concert goers beg for mercy as they were raped, genitally mutilated, and shot to death by Hamas. When she escaped, she tried to treat victims who were butchered and left to slowly die. Now, she bravely tells her story to bear witness for the hundreds who can’t — raped, tortured, kidnapped, and murdered simply for being Israeli.”

Like my daughter, Tali Biner is a nurse in her 20s who loves music and her friends. But, her life changed forever at the Nova Music Festival. For hours she hid, praying not to be next, listening to fellow concert goers beg for mercy as they were raped, genitally mutilated, and… pic.twitter.com/PuyxT63W5D

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) May 28, 2024

Israel’s air strike on Rafah came after the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor last week applied for warrants for Mr Netanyahu and his defence minister, as well as three Hamas leaders, over their involvement in atrocities since October 7.

The military’s Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi “directed the General Staff’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism to investigate the strike carried out in Rafah” late on Sunday, it said in a statement.

It added that “before the strike, a number of steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians during the strike, including conducting aerial surveillance, the deployment of precise munitions by the IAF (air force), and additional intelligence information”.

Mr Netanyahu reiterated this position that the IDF has tried to minimise casualties.

Fire rages after an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Rafah. Picture: PRCS/AFP

“In Rafah, we evacuated a million uninvolved residents, and despite our best efforts a tragic mishap happened yesterday,” he told parliament on Monday, adding that “we are investigating the case and will draw the conclusions”.

The strike set off a fire that ripped through a tent city for displaced Palestinians.

Footage from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society showed chaotic night-time scenes of paramedics racing to the fiery attack site and evacuating the wounded, including children.

“We saw charred bodies and dismembered limbs,” said agency official Mohammad al-Mughayyir. “We also saw cases of amputations, wounded children, women and the elderly.”

One survivor, a woman who declined to be named, said, “We had just done with the evening prayers. Our children were asleep. Suddenly we heard a loud sound and there was fire all around us. The children were screaming.”

The incident drew widespread condemnation.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong warned Israel “this cannot continue”.

“The death and destruction in Rafah is horrific,” she told the Senate on Tuesday. “This human suffering is unacceptable.”

Palestinians mourn by the bodies of relatives killed in the attack. Picture: Eyad Baba/AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that “these operations must stop”.

“There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” he said. “I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “horrified by news coming out of Rafah on Israeli strikes killing dozens of displaced persons, including small children … I condemn this in the strongest terms”.

Across the region, the Israeli attack sparked strong protests from mediators Egypt and Qatar as well as from Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Egypt deplored the “targeting of defenceless civilians” and labelled it part of “a systematic policy aimed at widening the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip to make it uninhabitable”.

Jordan accused Israel of “ongoing war crimes” and Saudi Arabia condemned “in the strongest terms the continued massacres committed by Israeli occupation forces”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “we will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable”.

Qatar condemned the Israeli bombing as a “dangerous violation of international law” and voiced “concern that the bombing will complicate ongoing mediation efforts and hinder reaching an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire”.

Also on Monday, Egypt’s military said a border guard was killed in a “shooting” in the Rafah border area, where Israeli forces are deployed, adding that it had launched a probe.

“The Egyptian armed forces, through the competent authorities, are investigating a shooting incident in the Rafah border area which led to the martyrdom of a guard,” a military statement said, after Israel’s army reported a “shooting incident” on the Egyptian border.