Gaza’s impossible choice: extermination or forced transfer

The second chapter of Israel’s war on Gaza, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched after the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement last month, is not about returning the Israeli captives, alive or dead. The Israeli public knows this by now, and so do thousands of Israeli reservists who, for the first time in the history of the state, are refusing to report for duty.

The second chapter of the war is also not about destroying Hamas, as Netanyahu claims. Much of the militant group’s military capacity had been destroyed many months before. The movement has been decapitated both militarily and politically. This is the conclusion of many of Israel’s generals. And the resumption of the war is not about reoccupying the entire enclave. That is a secondary objective.

Netanyahu is now seeking to fulfill a more sinister goal — the forced transfer of millions of Palestinians in Gaza. By cutting off all kinds of aid for more than a month now, by indiscriminately bombing tent camps to kill as many civilians as possible, and forcing hundreds of thousands of hapless people to move to the beaches of Gaza at Al-Mawasi, Israel is physically choking off the Palestinians and forcing them to embrace the only choice they have if they want to stay alive: leave.

We do not know what happened during Netanyahu’s unscheduled and rushed visit to the White House two weeks ago. Israeli reports suggest that the Israeli leader was summoned to meet President Donald Trump, but not to talk about recently imposed US tariffs on Israeli products — and it now seems that it was not to suspend the renewed attacks on Gaza. The talks failed to resolve the deadlock regarding the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas.

Netanyahu is now seeking to fulfill a more sinister goal

Osama Al-Sharif

Trump wanted to inform Netanyahu that the US has decided to negotiate with Iran to reach a new agreement regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu was told to stay put and not interfere or disrupt the new round of negotiations. The Israeli media announced that a stunned Netanyahu left Washington empty-handed.

But the Israeli leader did not leave empty-handed. He was not told by the Americans to end the war in Gaza or to embrace a new ceasefire deal. In fact, after his return to Israel, Netanyahu told Israelis that he was going to win the war and bring the hostages back. How to achieve both remains unclear. Indeed, tens of thousands of Israelis who protested last Saturday do not believe him. And now, while mired in legal and political challenges, Netanyahu is facing an unprecedented mutiny in the armed forces.

Still, he sees a rare opportunity to carry out the scheme of all time: to empty Gaza of its inhabitants and reclaim the enclave. His army has leveled the southern governorate of Rafah and is now moving into parts of Khan Younis. His Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, boasts that Israel has now created buffer zones in all of northern Gaza, and has created a new military corridor in the south that has reduced the enclave’s area by one-third. There is more to come, he says. Katz claims these buffer zones — created through the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians — are meant to force Hamas into accepting a deal to return the captives.

Ironically, Hamas made such an offer weeks ago. More recently, in Cairo, Hamas said that it was willing to free all Israeli captives in return for ending the war and the complete withdrawal of Israel. Netanyahu said no.

Israel is moving from carrying out a genocidal war to total extermination. And why not? It has the backing of the US president and most US lawmakers. Instead of calling on a wanted war criminal to cease, the US is welcoming Netanyahu with open arms. Furthermore, those who dare investigate Israel for war crimes and genocide, such as the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, are threatened with sanctions.

The second chapter of the Gaza war is about the threat of extermination to force millions to leave. The starvation, the indiscriminate bombings, the destruction of hospitals, the bombing of tents to kill as many civilians as possible, the leveling of entire governorates, and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands will undoubtedly achieve that egregious objective.

The failure to stop this crime of the century is astounding

Osama Al-Sharif

What is mind-boggling is that the world knows exactly what the end game in Gaza is about. Still, the failure to stop this crime of the century is astounding. The world has been unable to force Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza for weeks now. The UN Security Council is deaf and blind, allowing the deliberate execution of 15 medics by Israel to go unpunished. The ICC and the ICJ have become silent witnesses to this bloodbath.

The case against what Israel is doing in Gaza is impossible to defend or justify. And yet, while millions protest weekly around the world against the genocide, no government has dared challenge or punish Israel.

Never mind that international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, the laws of war, and Security Council resolutions have all been trampled by a rogue regime. Never mind that all governments are now directly or indirectly made into accessories in this crime of the century. The outcome of this bloody saga will haunt the world for decades.

Israel may succeed in forcing an exhausted, starving, and grieving population to leave Gaza, not by free choice, but to survive. How and where will they go? Netanyahu has no answer, nor does he care. He will throw the fate of millions at the feet of the world. This is a blemished insult to humanity.

Netanyahu’s sinister scheme can still be stopped. But what has been lacking so far is the resolve of world leaders. There is no indication that the current trajectory will change. Palestinians in Gaza are now at the mercy of a ruthless killer.

• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator in Amman. X: @plato010