US politician branded ‘sociopath’ for writing ‘finish them’ on Israeli artillery shells

Former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley signing bombs during a trip to Israel

‘Finish them’ – this is the message that former US ambassador for the United Nations Nikki Haley wrote on an artillery shell to be deployed either on Gaza or Lebanon.

Her Memorial Day visit to Israel on Monday came just hours after a newborn was ‘beheaded’ and children ‘burnt alive’ in a bombing on makeshift shelter in the city of Rafah.

Five days before, on May 23, a bus with schoolchildren narrowly escaped a drone strike on a Hezbollah fighter near the town of Nabatiyeh, in Lebanon.

Pictures of Haley’s stunt were shared on X by Danny Danon, an Israeli politician and former ambassador to the United Nations, who accompanied her during the trip.

Wearing a bulletproof vest, she crouched down next to the rows of shells, writing ‘Finish them! America loves [heart] Israel always.’ Danon was also photographed signing the weapons.

Since her visit, Israel had pressed ahead with its offensive in Rafah, defying an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

International unease over Israel’s three-week-old offensive in the city has turned to outrage since the airstrike on Sunday set off a fire, killing at least 45 people.

Further bombing of another shelter, this time just outside Rafah, killed another 37 civilians overnight.

Dozens of wounded Palestinians are brought to the European Hospital in Khan Yunis city for treatment after the Israeli army attacked aid warehouses east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 29 (Picture: Getty)

Israel’s assault on Rafah, launched May 6, spurred more than one million people to flee the city, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees said Tuesday.

Most were already displaced multiple times. Families are now scattered across makeshift tent camps and other war-ravaged areas.

Haley is the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who mounted a campaign to be the Republican nominee in the presidential elections – albeit, unsuccessfully.

Talking to reporters in Israel, the politician was unapologetic, criticising Joe Biden’s administration for temporarily withholding weapons as a means of discouraging an Israeli attack on Rafah.

Palestinians, carrying their personal belongings with them fleeing southern Gaza (Picture: Getty)

Palestinians fleeing Rafah with their belongings following renewed Israeli strikes in the city (Picture: AFP)

Her message was also in line with previous comments she has made about Gaza and Hamas, but this time the backlash has been much more widespread. 

Kenneth Roth, former Human Rights Watch executive director, said: ‘Nikki Haley shows who she is. As Israeli bombardment has killed far more Palestinian civilians than combatants, she signs a bomb, “Finish them.”

‘Why not just sign, “I favor Israeli war crimes.”‘

British rapper and activist from London, Lowkey, shared the controversial picture of Haley, writing: ‘Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley signs Israeli bombs due for Gaza and Lebanon with the words “finish them.”

‘The calibre of “diplomats” late-stage US empire offers.’

Civil rights activist Dr Omar Suleiman tweeted: ‘While Americans watch Israel burn Gaza alive, and Palestinian children are beheaded, Nikki Haley writes love notes on bombs that drop on civilians.

‘Let the world bear witness to your moral depravity.’

Meanwhile, American actor John Cusack stressed that anyone who signs a bomb is a ‘sociopath’.

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