The former Israeli army chief and defense minister said northern Gaza was being “ridden of Arabs”, echoing ICC allegations.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon accused Israel of committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, echoing allegations by the International Criminal Court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant.
Yaalon, a former army chief of staff, told Israeli media that hardliners in Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet sought to drive Palestinians out of northern Gaza and wanted to reestablish Jewish settlements there .
“I am obliged to warn about what is happening there and which is hidden from us,” Yaalon told the Kan public broadcaster on Sunday.
“At the end of the day, war crimes are committed. »
In an interview with private channel DemocratTV, Yaalon said: “The path we are heading towards is conquest, annexation and ethnic cleansing. »
Asked about the toll of “ethnic cleansing,” he said: “What is happening there? There is no more Beit Lahiya, no more Beit Hanoon, the army intervenes in Jabalia and in reality, the land is cleared of Arabs.
Yaalon served as defense minister under Netanyahu from 2013 to 2016 and has been a fierce critic of the prime minister ever since.
Netanyahu’s Likud party accused him of spreading “slanderous lies,” while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, leader of a small right-wing party, said his accusations were baseless.
The ICC last month issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.
Palestinians have long accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza during the ongoing conflict.
In an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune, Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Distinguished Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, said the “genocide” taking place in Gaza since October 2023 is “worse than any phase of Palestinian history.
In recent weeks, the Israeli military has intensified its attacks in northern Gaza, saying it is targeting Hamas fighters who have regrouped, forcing civilians to flee the area. UN agencies say Palestinians are suffering from more than a month of military siege in the north.
Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf visited the Gaza border on Thursday and supported an initiative to restore settlements in the enclave.
“Jewish settlement here is the response to the terrible massacre (of October 7, 2023) and the response to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” Goldknopf said in Israeli media.
Most world powers consider settlements built on territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war illegal and view their expansion as an obstacle to peace, as it eats away at the land Palestinians want for their future state. .
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders on Sunday reiterated their calls for an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza during their meeting in Kuwait.
The leaders “condemned in the strongest possible terms the shocking and horrific crimes committed by the Israeli occupying forces in the Gaza Strip as part of a program of genocide and ethnic cleansing” against the Palestinians.
They also welcomed the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
As negotiations continue for an elusive ceasefire, Israeli forces struck Beit Lahyia on Monday, killing at least 10 more Palestinians.
The Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians and injured 105,250 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during attacks carried out by Hamas that day, and more than 200 were captured.
