Atop Israeli minister has vowed that Israel’s military will “conquer” Gaza and flatten everything that’s left, regardless of whether or not that plan endangers the lives of the remaining Israeli captives being held in the Strip — undercutting Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and the media’s narrative about Israel pushing for a deal.
On Sunday, Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved a plan for Israel to occupy Gaza indefinitely and flatten whatever is left standing, cordoning millions of Palestinians to a “humanitarian area” or forcibly expelling them from the Strip.
In a video announcing the plan, Netanyahu said that Israel will wait to implement the plan until after President Donald Trump’s Middle East visit next week, during which Trump is not expected to visit Israel. He and Israel’s top military spokesperson said that their primary goal is to secure the return of Israeli captives.
“One thing will be clear: there will be no in-and-out,” Netanyahu said. “If no hostage deal is reached [by Trump’s visit], Operation Gideon’s Chariots will begin with full force and will not stop until all its objectives are achieved.”
But Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is part of the security cabinet, said on Monday that the supposed contingency for a hostage deal doesn’t exist, and that Israel’s intention is to occupy Gaza no matter the consequences for the people Israel has claimed it’s waging the genocide to save.
“We are finally going to occupy the Gaza Strip. We will stop being afraid of the word ‘occupation,’” Smotrich said during a far right Israeli newspaper conference, per The Times of Israel.
He added that there will be “no retreat from the territories we have conquered, not even in exchange for hostages,” and said that Israel would discuss “sovereignty” after occupation is achieved.
This is in line with what many analysts and experts have said are Israel’s true intentions in Gaza, citing Israel’s infrastructural changes in the Strip, the military’s destruction of Rafah, or Israeli leaders’ own words and actions throughout the genocide.
“War Criminal Netanyahu has announced a plan to forcibly expel and ethnically cleanse the entire Palestinian population, flatten, and annex Gaza. This comes after 64 days of blocking food and aid. This was always their plan,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) on Monday. “The U.S. is an accomplice in this genocide.”
Israeli ministers have previously bragged about sabotaging ceasefire deals, even as American and Israeli officials have claimed that the remaining captives are the only reason they’re continuing their assault on Gaza. In reality, Israeli officials are trying to eliminate Palestinians from Gaza, as well as, seemingly, the entire concept of Gaza itself, as Smotrich said recently.
“We have promised the Israeli people that at the end of the war, Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel,” Smotrich said in a radio interview late last month. “We need to eliminate the problem of Gaza.”
Today, Israel’s government approved plans for its forces to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the occupied territory indefinitely in a move that will no doubt spark fierce international condemnation. While Israel has the political cover to attempt such an operation, is it actually feasible with the resistance still in place? In this episode, State of play are joined by Jon Elmer of Electronic Intifada to discuss what may transpire on the ground in the coming days.
The situation in Gaza today starkly highlights Israeli exceptionalism. Israel is employing the starvation of two million Palestinians in the blockaded and devastated Gaza Strip as a tactic to extract political concessions from Palestinian groups operating there.
On April 23, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described the current humanitarian situation in Gaza as “the worst ever seen throughout the war”. Despite the severity of these pronouncements, they often appear to be treated as routine news, eliciting little concrete action or substantive discussion.
Israeli violations of international and humanitarian laws regarding its occupation of Palestine are well-established facts. A new dimension of exceptionalism is emerging, reflected in Israel’s ability to deliberately starve an entire population for an extended period, with some even defending this approach.
The Gaza population continues to endure immense suffering, having experienced the loss of approximately 10 percent of its overall numbers due to deaths, disappearances and injuries. They are confined to a small, largely destroyed area of about 365 square kilometers, facing deaths from treatable diseases and lacking access to essential services, and even clean water.
Despite these conditions, Israel continues to operate with impunity in what seems to be a brutal and protracted experiment, while much of the world observes with varying degrees of anger, helplessness, or total disregard.
The question of the international community’s role remains central. While enforcing international law is one aspect, exerting the necessary pressure to allow a population facing starvation access to basic necessities like food and water, is another. For the people of Gaza, even these fundamental needs now seem unattainable after decades of diminished expectations.
During public hearings in The Hague starting on April 28, representatives from many nations appealed to the International Court of Justice to utilize its authority as the highest court to mandate that Israel cease the starvation of Palestinians.
Israel “may not collectively punish the protected Palestinian people,” stated the South African representative, Jaymion Hendricks. The Saudi envoy, Mohammed Saud Alnasser, added that Israel had transformed the Gaza Strip into an “unlivable pile of rubble, while killing thousands of innocent and vulnerable people.”
Representatives from China, Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, and other nations echoed these sentiments, aligning with the assessment of Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, who stated, last March, that Israel is employing a strategy of “weaponization of humanitarian aid”.
However, the assertion that the weaponization of food is a deliberate Israeli tactic requires no external proof; Israel itself declared it. The then Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, publicly announced a “complete siege” on Gaza on October 9, 2023, just two days after the start of the genocidal war.
Gallant’s statement – “We are imposing a complete siege on (Gaza). No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly” – was not an impulsive outburst but a policy rooted in dehumanizing rhetoric and implemented with extreme violence.
This “acting accordingly” extended beyond closing border crossings and obstructing aid deliveries. Even when aid was permitted, Israeli forces targeted desperate civilians, including children, who gathered to receive supplies, bombing them along with the aid trucks. A particularly devastating incident occurred on February 29, 2024, in Gaza City, where reports indicated that Israeli fire killed 112 Palestinians and injured 750 more.
This event was the first of what became known as the “Flour Massacres”. Subsequent similar incidents took place, and, in between these events, Israel continued to bomb bakeries, aid storage facilities, and aid distribution volunteers. The intention was to starve Palestinians to a degree that would allow for coercive bargaining and potentially lead to the ethnic cleansing of the population.
On April 1, an incident occurred where an Israeli military drone struck a convoy of the World Central Kitchen, resulting in the deaths of six international aid workers and their Palestinian driver. This event led to a significant departure of the remaining international aid workers from Gaza.
A few months later, starting in October 2024, northern Gaza was placed under a strict siege, with the aim of forcing the population south, potentially towards the Sinai desert. Despite these efforts and the resulting famine, the will of the Gazan population did not break. Instead, hundreds of thousands reportedly began returning to their destroyed homes and towns in the north.
When, on March 18, Israel reneged on a ceasefire agreement that followed extensive negotiations, it once again resorted to starvation as a weapon. There was little consequence or strong condemnation from Western governments regarding Israel’s return to the war and to the starvation policies.
“Using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” is classified as a war crime under international law, explicitly stated in the Rome Statute. However, the relevance of such legal frameworks is questioned when those who advocate for and consider themselves guardians of these laws fail to uphold or enforce them.
The inaction of the international community during this period of immense human suffering has significantly undermined the relevance of international law. The potential consequences of this failure to act are grave, extending beyond the Palestinian people to impact humanity as a whole.
Despite this, hope persists that fundamental human compassion, separate from legal frameworks, will compel the provision of essential supplies like flour, sugar, and water to Gaza. The inability to ensure this basic aid will profoundly question our shared humanity for years to come.
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers. Donate
Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud is a US-Palestinian journalist, media consultant, an author, internationally-syndicated columnist, Editor of Palestine Chronicle (1999-present), former Managing Editor of London-based Middle East Eye, former Editor-in-Chief of The Brunei Times and former Deputy Managing Editor of Al Jazeera online. Baroud’s work has been published in hundreds of newspapers and journals worldwide, and is the author of six books and a contributor to many others. Baroud is also a regular guest on many television and radio programs including RT, Al Jazeera, CNN International, BBC, ABC Australia, National Public Radio, Press TV, TRT, and many other stations. Baroud was inducted as an Honorary Member into the Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society, NU OMEGA Chapter of Oakland University, Feb 18, 2020.
Leave A Reply
No comments:
Post a Comment