Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has given orders to the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip in a move that threatens to torpedo an already fragile ceasefire and create catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the already devastated territory.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire in October, the Israeli army withdrew to a demarcation line which gave Israel direct control of 53% of the occupied territory. Since then, Israeli forces have steadily advanced their positions westward into the Hamas-controlled half of the strip, and declared an ever-expanded no man’s land west of that, within which they claim the right to decide who can enter and open fire on anyone perceived as a threat.
In recent days, Israeli-backed armed militias have taken a leading role in emptying the territory along the ceasefire line, telling residents to vacate their homes or shelters.
Throughout the eight months of the ceasefire, Israeli forces have continued to open fire on Palestinians within range of the “yellow line” splitting the strip, and carry out airstrikes deeper inside western Gaza, killing more than 900 Palestinians since the truce began.
The settler-colonial state’s far-right defence minister, Israel Katz, has openly stated Israel’s intention to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Genocidal intentions have being central to Israeli state ideology. Lawyers and human rights groups attacked Katz.
We committed that Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily, and so it shall be, and also the voluntary emigration plan from Gaza will be implemented.
Everything at the right timing and in the right manner.
Yet Israeli human rights groups warned that the conditions created in Gaza by Israel mean there would be nothing ‘voluntary’ about a removal scheme.
Creating living conditions that do not allow for survival, freedom and dignity, and subjecting civilians to them until they say they want to leave is not a plan for ‘encouraging voluntary emigration’ but a plan for forced evacuation and expulsion.
In Israel, elections hinge on racism and militarism
One expert warned that the context around a US-Iran peace deal and upcoming Israeli elections could dictate what happens to Gazans.
International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein said:
Because we are looking at an extension of the ceasefire and de-escalation of the situation in Iran and Lebanon, Israel – and Netanyahu specifically – will be looking for ways to show that they’re doing something on the security front, and that means exercising military power.
In a bleak commentary on the racist and militarist nature of Israeli politics, she added:
Unfortunately talking about ethnic cleansing in Gaza is not necessarily something that will hurt you in domestic politics. In fact it might even help you.
And there are fears that Israel could remove Palestinians from their land, depositing them in Somaliland.
Somaliland and Israel have agreed to normalise relations and open embassies in their respective capitals.
Some would that Gaza’s future hinging on Israeli voter prejudice speaks to the failure of the so-called ‘international community’. Yet this can just as easily be read as sign of its success. That is, if we view the global ‘liberal’ order as being built upon the suppression and expropriation of indigenous populations around the world. Which — on this evidence, at least — we certainly should.
The crime of the century is underway and the supposed guardians of human rights aren’t just indifferent. They are complicit. Palestinian lives simply do not factor in their grand calculations.
Americans continue to increasingly view Israel negatively amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The results published April 7 found 60% of all American adults had an unfavorable opinion of Israel, compared with 53% a year earlier. Just 37% of respondents had a favorable view of Israel, a longstanding ally of the United States in the region and a historic beneficiary of foreign aid.
Pew’s latest polling is a 20-point shift since 2022, when most Americans had favorable views of Israel. Then, just 42% had an unfavorable opinion of Israel.
Pew found younger Americans across the ideological spectrum in particular have negative views toward Israel. About 70% of respondents younger than 50 had unfavorable opinions of Israel.
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
borderslynn 