pretext

Maduro, who faces indictment on drug charges in the United States, has accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext for "imposing regime change" in Caracas to seize Venezuelan oil.

Attorneys might also bring racial discrimination claims in federal court alleging California lawmakers used partisan affiliation as a pretext for race in drawing the maps to disenfranchise one racial group or another, Carrillo said.

Demonstrators there even suggested that Israel murdered its own people as a pretext to attack Gaza.

Hamas said it is abiding by the terms of the cease-fire deal and that Israel’s claims were an attempt to create a pretext to restart the war.

Hamas rejected what it called the "baseless allegations" and accused Israel of "seeking to fabricate false pretexts in preparation for taking new aggressive steps".