Israelis present post-war strategies for Gaza ethnic cleansing

By Janna Kadri
Source: Israeli Media
3 Jan 2024 23:13
4 Shares

One of the strategies involved sending Palestinians to an already war-torn Congo, while another involved sending Palestinians to the Gulf to work in slave-like conditions as construction workers.

Palestinians walk past the building destroyed in the Israeli Bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Gaza City on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)

A disturbing report published by the Times of Israel earlier in the day reported that Israeli officials have held talks with several countries regarding the potential absorption of displaced Palestinians.

This suggests that residents of the embattled Strip may not be granted the right of return once the Israeli aggression comes to an end.

According to the report, the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently engaged in talks with Congo and several other countries for the potential resettlement of thousands of displaced Palestinians from Gaza.

"Congo will be willing to take in migrants, and we’re in talks with others," a senior source in the security cabinet said.

During a Likud meeting last Monday, Netanyahu stated that he is actively involved in facilitating the expulsion of Palestinians to other countries.

"Our problem is [finding] countries that are willing to absorb Gazans, and we are working on it," he said in response to a question posed by Likud MK Danny Danon, who said that "the world is already discussing the possibilities of voluntary immigration," a highly controversial idea considering the violation of Palestinians' human rights.

The plans for forced displacement have received support from the extremist Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, respectively.

The US State Department criticized Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir on Tuesday for endorsing the expulsion of Palestinians outside Gaza, condemning their rhetoric as "inflammatory and irresponsible."

The following day, Smotrich dismissed the comments, asserting that over 70 percent of Israelis support the notion of "encouraging voluntary immigration" on the basis that "two million people [in Gaza] wake up every morning with the desire to destroy the State of Israel."

Netanyahu's office has previously released statements publicly asserting that Smotrich and Ben Gvir do not reflect government policy on the issue, despite Netanyahu's own comments last week expressing support for Palestinians' expulsion.

Ministers and lawmakers from Netanyahu's Likud party have also endorsed the policy.

Gila Gamliel's depopulation strategy

On Tuesday, Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel told Israeli news website Zman that "voluntary migration is the best and most realistic program for the day after the fighting ends."

"At the end of the war, Hamas rule will collapse. There are no municipal authorities; the civilian population will be entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. There will be no work, and 60% of Gaza’s agricultural land will become security buffer zones."

The website further reported that during internal discussions at the Knesset, Gamliel presented a post-war scenario for Gaza, depicting remaining residents confined within specific areas. The proposed measures include "Israel" severing ties with Gaza, enlarging security buffer zones, asserting control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, and implementing a permanent naval blockade.

Gamliel emphasized that Gaza should not be transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA), expressing concerns about leaving Gazans in the Strip "to be educated with hate". However, the regime has provided limited information about the preferred political entity to govern Gaza, while firmly rejecting the return of the PA.

"The Gaza problem is not just our problem," Gamliel said. "The world should support humanitarian emigration because that’s the only solution I know."

Danny Danon's depopulation strategy

Likud MK Danny Danon, another prominent advocate of expulsing Palestinians from Gaza, presented a five-step plan that includes demobilization, establishing a security buffer zone, Israeli presence at the Rafah border crossing, promoting displacement, and eradicating the Palestinian resistance in the Strip.

In November, he, along with Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak, detailed the migration plan in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, urging countries globally to accept limited numbers of Gazan families. However, Ben Barak later clarified his stance, stating he had not been completely understood.

The security cabinet was initially scheduled to meet on Tuesday evening to discuss plans for Gaza after the war.

Among the considerations was the idea of asking Saudi Arabia to absorb hundreds of thousands of Palestinians for employment opportunities.

This proposal arises as Saudi Arabia is undergoing significant construction projects and currently employs around half a million workers, mainly from India, Bangladesh, and other nations. The working conditions in the construction sectors in the Gulf are widely known to pose human rights concerns.

However, the security cabinet discussion was postponed to Wednesday due to the necessity of security consultations following the murder of resistance leader Saleh al-Arouri, in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh.

Meanwhile, the Israeli aggression on Gaza is still ongoing, with the death toll reportedly reaching 22,313, as per the latest estimates.