Former Minister of Defense accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing in Gaza
Former Minister of Defense accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing in Gaza
A highly decorated former Israeli Minister of Defense triggered a controversy by accusing Israel, ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in northern Gaza
statements by Moshe Ya’alon
Moshe ya’alon for three decades in the Israeli defense dispute (IDF) served, including in the elite unit Sayeret Matkal and as chief of staff of the military, also expressed that he believed that Israel loses his identity as a liberal democracy and transformed into a "corrupt and leprosy fascist messianic state."
allegations of ethnic cleansing
"conquest, annexation, ethnic cleansing - look at the northern Gaza," said Ya’alon in an interview with Israeli democratic television. The interviewer was surprised by Ya’alon's use of the term "ethnic cleansing" and asked whether this in his opinion came about: "So are we on the way there?"
"Why 'on the way'?" replied Ya’alon. "What happens there? There is no Beit Lahia. There is no Beit Hanoun. They are operating in Jabalya and basically cleaning the area of Arabs," Ya’alon referred to the Idf.
The operation of the Israeli military
The Israeli army has been carrying out intensive and fatal operation in northern Gaza for two months, which is supposed to be aimed at the residents. All civilians were asked to go to a humanitarian area in southern Gaza for security reasons. Thousands of Palestinian civilians have refused to evacuate in Gaza's areas for more than a year, which are then also met by Israeli air strikes. According to the world nutrition program, very few aid deliveries have come to northern Gaza.
reactions of the Israeli government
Israeli military leadership rejected Ya’alon's allegations and emphasized that it does not have to carry out ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, but should "act in accordance with international law" for surgical reasons to ensure their protection.
The government has so far not submitted a plan for post-war administration in Gaza and has also denied that they implement a "surrender or starve" proposal in northern Gaza, which was presented by the former military general Giora Eiland-although The project was considered .
the political tensions in Israel
"I kept a mirror for the statements of many ministers and Knesset members in the government," said Ya’alon in a further interview with Channel 12. "Under this title, ethnic cleansing is effectively operated; I can't think of any other word for it." The interviewer noticed that such a word "dark time periods" conjured up in history.
"This is correct and I deliberately used this term to ring the alarm bells," replied the former Defense Minister.
future prospects and international reactions
Extremist groups in Israeli politics have been demanding Jewish settlements in the Gaza area almost since the beginning of the war, after Hamas had started an attack on October 7, 2023. Soldiers who are stationed in Gaza regularly promoted the return to Gush Katif - the settlements destroyed by Israel's one -sided withdrawal in 2005. These ideas gained approval: In October, hundreds of activists and several incumbent ministers took part in a Gush Katif conference near the Gaza border.
"We have to stay there, we have to found a flourishing Jewish settlement there," said the right -wing extremist finance minister of Israel, Bezhalel Smotrich, in an interview with the Israeli television station Kan.
the international community and legal measures
In a 154-page report last month, Human Rights Watch explained that Israel had monitored the forced mass displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza area in a targeted and systematic campaign that the war crimes and crimes against humanity are equivalent to humanity. Josep Borrell, the foreign representative of the European Union, expressed that it was not coincidental that the term "ethnic cleaning" would be increasingly used to describe the events in northern Gaza.The International Criminal Court has Start-up commands against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant exhibited because it "reasonable reasons" had to believe that Netanyahu is responsible for war crimes.
changes in dealing with the IDF
ya’alon said that what is happening in Gaza could no longer believe in the often mentioned name for the IDF as the "most moral" army in the world. "The IDF is not the most moral army today," he said. "It is difficult for me to say that."
his intervention was sharply criticized by former military colleagues. "Lying and damage to the state of Israel and the IDF does not follow any compass-this is lawlessness," said the politician Benny Gantz, who also served as a IDF chief. "The IDF did everything to minimize the loss of civil life," added Naftali Bennett, who also served in the Sayeret Matkal. "The population is moved from the danger zone to their own protection. It is not only the right of the IDF, but their duty to do so."
ya’alon stated that military commander may be pursuing purely operational goals, while politicians have other plans in their heads and aimed at them:
"I speak of soldiers who move populations, assuming operational purposes. But the intention of Smotrich, Ben Gvir, Strook and Daniela Weiss - all explained Siedler - is an open and explained."
Eugenia Yosef and Mike Schwartz contributed to this report.