On Monday, the Netanyahu government effectively announced the start of the final stage of ethnic cleansing of Gaza with a plan to militarily occupy the entire Gaza Strip and transfer the population into concentration camps under armed guard, in preparation for sending them on forced marches through the desert or loading them onto ships.

In February, US President Donald Trump declared that “The US will take over the Gaza Strip” and “level out” the remaining buildings and transfer the Palestinian population to “other countries.” At the time, both US and international media dismissed Trump’s plan as an “outlandish” scheme with no prospect of realization.

The Israeli government approached Trump’s plan with deadly seriousness. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s “bold vision” for an ethnically cleansed Gaza. “We’re working on it,” Trump said during a meeting in Washington last month.

On Monday, the Netanyahu government effectively announced the beginning of the final stage of ethnic cleansing in Gaza. The plan includes a full military occupation of the entire Gaza Strip and the mass internment of the population in concentration camps under armed guard, as a prelude to forced marches through the desert or deportation by sea.

These concentration camps will be staffed by private US security contractors, with the Israel Defense Forces overseeing the distribution of starvation rations. According to a report this week by Reuters, the United States and Israel are actively discussing the formation of a “transitional government” headed by a US official to administer Gaza.

Echoing the “final solution,” the Nazi term for the genocide of Europe’s Jews, Netanyahu declared, “It’s time to launch the concluding moves.” The next day, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich explained the meaning of the Israeli government’s plan:

Within a year, … Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to … the south to a humanitarian zone … and from there they will start to leave in great numbers to third countries.

The mechanism for the forcible displacement of the Palestinian people will be mass starvation. As National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made clear, “No electricity, and no other aid should be allowed—neither by the [Israeli military] nor by civil society.”

On March 2, Israel imposed a total blockade on all food, water and electricity entering the Gaza Strip. As a result, the majority of Gaza’s community kitchens have been forced to shut down due to a lack of supplies, and cases of acute malnutrition have surged by more than 80 percent. Harrowing images have circulated of emaciated, starving children—victims of a famine that is entirely man-made.

  • Grimy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    186·
    1 day ago

    Two things can be true at once.

    Russia used the dems support of genocide to convince voters to commit to something that wasnt in their favor.

    Israel uses the voters as scapegoats so their genocide and hold on our politics doesnt stop.

    Personally, I was very vocal about holding the line and voting for Kamala anyways before the election. Im also smart enough to understand that ultimately, the dems lost because they put the wishes of Israel before their base and because the platform they pushed was disgusting and stupid. They completely fucked us over and I want change, not useless voter blame.

    • kreskin@lemmy.worldBanned from communityEnglish
      52·
      1 day ago

      Russia used the dems support of genocide to convince voters to commit to something that wasnt in their favor.

      Israel uses the voters as scapegoats so their genocide and hold on our politics doesnt stop.

      Both true, but DNC and RNC leadership are the core of our problem there. And they will keep selling us all out, up to and including destroying whats left of our republic. We’re simply lucky that American soldiers arent on the front lines of Ukraine or Palestine doing what our paying customers tell us to do. Whenever a vote pertaining to Israel comes up in congress it gets 99% of the congressional vote. And we hang onto the very last shreds of free speech, which allows me to say this. We are not free-- we are owned.