Israel Engaged in Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza: Former Defense Head
The IDF has been focused on northern Gaza since 5 October, claiming that its mission is to prevent Hamas from regrouping
Moshe Ya’alon, the former Israeli military chief, said in an interview Saturday that the Netanyahu government is leading the country down a path to destruction over its effort to occupy, annex, and ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.
The former official commented on Israel’s Democrat TV, according to The Times of Israel.
Ya’alon, who served under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013-2016, spoke about recent comments from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who has spoken out in favor of “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from the enclave so Israel can develop settlements.
The paper noted that the reporter who interviewed Ya’alon seemed to be surprised by his use of the blunt phrase “ethnic cleansing” and asked him to clarify if he believes the IDF is “on the way” to that outcome.
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“Why ‘on the way?’” he responded, according to the paper. “What is happening there? What is happening there? There is no Beit Lahia, there is no Beit Hanoun, [the IDF] are currently operating in Jabalia and are essentially cleansing the area of Arabs.”
The IDF has been focused on northern Gaza since 5 October, claiming that its mission is to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
Recently released satellite images show the IDF clearing out northern Gaza. The UN said there have been more than 100,000 people displaced from the region.
Last month, the U.S. appeared to acknowledge Israel’s mass extermination plan in northern Gaza after Secretary of State Antony Blinken tried to get Netanyahu to publicly reject claims that Israel is implementing the “Generals’ Plan”—which calls for the mass expulsion or killing of Palestinians.
The plan is also known as the Eiland Plan because its chief architect is Giora Eiland, a retired general. The plan calls for the complete siege of northern Gaza, starving the population and killing anyone who stayed behind. Given the brutality of Israel’s crackdown in the north since 5 October, there is growing belief that the plan is underway.