Israeli officials have sparked controversy by justifying the flattening of Australian WWI and WWII war graves in Palestine, asserting that the deceased soldiers were part of the terrorist group Hamas. Despite the obvious temporal discrepancy, given that Hamas was founded decades after the soldiers’ deaths, an IDF spokesperson insisted the signs of affiliation were there.

In a satirical twist, the spokesperson suggested the soldiers were occupying land intended for demolition and, by not moving when asked, were deemed members of Hamas according to their public relations handbook. The spokesperson also humorously noted that heavy machinery was only used after the graves ignored verbal warnings.