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SvennoJ on 23 October 2024
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Netanyahu rejects Blinken request to publicly reject ‘General’s Plan’: Reports

The Israeli prime minister and his senior aides have sidestepped the US secretary of state’s request for Israel to publicly reject accusations it is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, according to media reports.

Blinken, who is in the Middle East as part of the US’s latest push for a ceasefire in Gaza, met with Netanyahu and senior aide Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Tuesday.

One topic of discussion was the so-called General’s Plan, The Times of Israel and CNN are reporting, both citing an unnamed US official.

Put forward in September by retired General Giora Eiland, the General’s Plan – which calls for the expulsion of Palestinians from northern Gaza and the forced starvation and targeting of whoever stays behind – has been labelled a roadmap to ethnic cleansing by critics.

According to both reports, during the meeting, Netanyahu insisted Israel is not pursuing the plan, but refused a request from Blinken to state so publicly.

Washington believes Netanyahu’s refusal was due to fear of alienating the far-right coalition partners he relies on to remain in power, The Times of Israel said.


Rights group says ‘world must stop ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza’

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem says Israel is “taking advantage of the fact that global attention has been diverted” to commit “ethnic cleansing” in northern Gaza.

“It is clearer than ever that Israel intends to forcibly displace northern Gaza’s residents by committing some of the gravest crimes under the laws of war,” B’Tselem said in a statement, calling on the world’s nations and international bodies to take “immediate, decisive” action.

“Ever since Israel’s current operation in the northern Gaza Strip began on October 5, the area has been under a near complete siege, relentlessly pummelled by the military,” the statement added.

“Israel has cut them off from the world” and “the few testimonies that have trickled out … describe dead bodies lining the streets, hunger [and] drinking water nowhere to be found.”


A drone image shows displaced Palestinians in Jabalia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, in this picture obtained from social media on Monday


Doctors group calls on Australia to challenge Israeli ban on medical teams

The Medical Association for the Prevention of War says it has written to Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong asking her to “use all diplomatic tools” to get Israel to “reinstate vital Gaza access to international medical teams”.

The Melbourne-based organisation warned that Israel’s ban will “increase preventable death, disease and suffering” in Gaza.

According to the World Health Organization, eight groups and more than 50 specialist health workers have been blocked from entering Gaza by Israeli authorities since August.

Wong last month made protecting humanitarian personnel a centrepiece of her speech at the UN General Assembly, nearly six months after an Israeli drone strike killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza.