The Israeli regime is wondering how the ethnic cleansing of Gaza can be implemented. The “hunt for Hamas” is pretty much over – only the mainstream media are still interested.
Since October 7, Israel – according to the government – has had only one goal: the destruction of Hamas. To this end, it has already murdered many times more civilians in the Gaza Strip than Hamas did on October 7. Collateral damage. And due to the raison d’état of “unconditional support for Israel”, especially in Germany and Austria (in the USA anyway), there is relatively little criticism of Israel’s military action in this country. But what does Netanyahu really want? What are his plans for the Gaza Strip? And is the narrative of “wiping out Hamas” just media propaganda?
Hamas or depopulation?
First Israel called on the civilians in Gaza to flee to the south. Then it invaded the north. Israeli tanks are now also in the south of the Gaza Strip. Although this action is criticized in most parts of the world – sometimes harshly – it is accepted here in Germany. There are no incidents that go beyond the hunt for Hamas. There is – once again, one might add – a massive and historic “media failure”, writes Adam Johnson in The Nation on Thursday. This is because the population in the USA – and the same applies to German-speaking countries – is not being informed about the Israeli regime’s actual plans.
Johnson formulates what actually happens quite pointedly and drastically:
| “Israel is engaging in massive population transfers and attempting to depopulate Gaza, and everything it does must be understood through this lens. The Israeli government has explicitly said this from the beginning, starting with an evacuation order for North Gaza on October 13. No exceptions. Everything Israel has done since then is pursuant to carrying out this evacuation order to remove over 1 million people form North Gaza into refugee camps in South Gaza. This is what they said they would do, and it’s what they are doing.” |
In the media, however, the focus is constantly on the “hunt for Hamas”, for example in the large-scale staged takeover of the Al-Shifa hospital: “In the days leading up to the takeover of the medical complex, the American press repeatedly gave media consumers the impression Israel forces were storming the bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.“
Open plans
A few weeks later, the Israeli authorities failed to provide any evidence of the notorious tunnel system used to justify the operation on the hospital. Especially in the case of Israel’s operations on the hospitals, Israel’s actual goal is at odds with the one portrayed in the media, writes Johnson:
“If you understand Israel’s goal as forcing the population to leave Gaza, then these actions make perfect sense. Israel needed to use military force to remove everyone from the hospital because hospitals are, by their very nature, one of the last places people will evacuate. And Israel had issued an evacuation order on October 13 for everyone in North Gaza—including vulnerable medical patients—to evacuate to the south. Israeli officials reportedly called Al-Shifa dozens of times demanding that the hospital be evacuated. For those working at the medical facility, this meant certain death for dozens of their patients who needed continuous medical care and couldn’t possibly make a 30-mile trip to South Gaza on foot through a war zone with no water or transportation. But Israel didn’t and doesn’t care. The government is doing forcible population transfers, and this means everyone. It’s the simplest way to explain Israel’s actions, yet American media—tied to “counterterror” narratives—can’t, or won’t, get their minds around the obvious fact that Israel is attempting to depopulate Gaza in stages.”
Information on this can also be found sporadically in the media. Plans to “depopulate” Gaza had already been revealed by a ministry at the end of October. On November 17, a report by Al-Monitor said that “among Israeli decision-makers, [the option] that enjoys the most support is that of Egypt taking control of the enclave in return for a complete write-off of its massive foreign debt….. The proposals include rebuilding Gaza south of its current location – rather than in areas destroyed by Israeli bombs – and relocating some of the residents to Arab or other countries, while the rest remain in a rebuilt Gaza.”
On November 19, Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel presented similar plans in the Jerusalem Post of November 19. Hamas was only mentioned in passing; the real topic was the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. The only option “is to promote the voluntary resettlement of Palestinians in Gaza, for humanitarian reasons, outside of the Strip.”
Avi Dichter, member of the Israeli Security Cabinet and Minister of Agriculture, was even clearer on 12 November on Israeli television: “We are about to realize the Nakba of the Gaza Strip. Gaza Nakba 2023, this is how it will end.”
Where does this plan currently stand? Apparently, Netanyahu is currently promoting his proposal to “thin out” the population in the Gaza Strip. The survivors are then to be expelled to neighboring countries.
But the problem is the neighboring countries, Egypt and other Arab countries will not play along. Johnson comments:
But the problem is the neighboring countries, Egypt and other Arab countries will not play along. Johnson comments:
“But whether these plans are feasible is secondary. What matters is the intention, and it is clear that Israel intends to create the conditions for depopulation, even if the final details of where and how the Palestinians will be ‘resettled’ are still open.”