6/1/2024–|Last updated: 1/6/202412:14 AM (Mecca time)
The human tragedy across Gaza receives little treatment in Israeli public discourse, as the priority remains the defeat of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the release of Israeli detainees in the Strip.
In fact, the relentless beating of war drums from Israeli leaders and other politicians has instigated an even more devastating fate for the Strip. As some residents return to their destroyed homes, Israeli ministers are pressing for settlement restoration.
In his column in the Washington Post, Ishaan Tharoor referred to the call by members of the right-wing coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to drop a nuclear bomb on the densely populated Gaza Strip, and to completely annihilate the Strip as a sign of revenge, and to impoverish its people to the point that they have no choice. Their only option is to leave their homeland.
This week alone, a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s Likud party appeared on television and said it was clear to most Israelis that “the entire population of Gaza needs to be destroyed.” Afterwards, Israel’s ambassador to Britain, Tzivi Hotovely, told local radio that there was no other solution for her country but to demolish “every school, every mosque, every house” in Gaza to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure.
Tharoor added that this accumulated letter forms part of the 84-page lawsuit submitted by the South African government to the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing acts amounting to genocide or failing to prevent them.
South Africa’s lawsuit asserted that Israeli authorities failed to suppress “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” by a group of Israeli politicians, journalists and public officials.
This includes far-right figures such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who do not hide their vision of an ethnically cleansed Gaza.
Forced displacement
Smotrich said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio last Sunday that what must be done in Gaza is to encourage immigration. While Ben Gvir called on another occasion for the actual forced displacement of hundreds of thousands from the Gaza Strip.
The writer hinted that Israeli calls for actual ethnic cleansing and possible Israeli settlement in Gaza may not be reflected in the declared position of the Israeli government in wartime.
Some of his colleagues were quoted as saying, “In private, Israeli officials say that the proposals to transfer Gaza’s residents stem from the political imperatives of Netanyahu’s coalition and his reliance on far-right parties to maintain power.”
A person familiar with the talks within the Israeli government told the Washington Post, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, “Specialists in the military and the security establishment know that this is not within the realm of possibility. They know that there is no future without the Gazans in Gaza and the Authority.” Palestinian Authority as part of the government.
The writer concluded his analysis with a joint letter written by a group of prominent Israelis on Wednesday, including former lawmakers and intellectuals, condemning the Israeli judicial authorities for not curbing the widespread “genocide” rhetoric. They said that for the first time they could remember, explicit calls to commit atrocities against millions of civilians had become a legitimate and regular part of Israeli discourse. These calls have become a daily occurrence in Israel.
