Idea of ‘Greater Israel’ ‘very deeply rooted in Israeli politics’
Mohamad Elmasry from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies says Israel’s resumption of the war on Gaza confirms “its intent on driving the population out altogether, or at least as many as possible”.
US President Donald Trump has also backed the plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza, he noted.
“Interestingly, there was a poll by the Jewish People Policy Institute that showed 85 percent of Israeli-Jews supported Trump’s plan as well. So the idea that this a far-right notion I think is a myth,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.
“This idea of ‘Greater Israel’ – this is very deeply rooted in Israeli politics. And my sense is the Israeli government sees this as a great opportunity with Donald Trump in the White House to try to execute this.
“On the face of it, this doesn’t make any sense. It’s just destruction for the sake of destruction.”
Defence minister says Israel to seize Gaza land until captives released
Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will seize Gaza land until Hamas agrees to release all captives still held in the Strip.
“The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel,” Katz was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying.
“If the hostages are not released, Israel will continue to take more and more territory in the Strip for permanent control.”
Katz says Israel to use ‘pressure’ on Hamas, including implementing Trump’s plan
The defence minister said Israel will “intensify” its campaign against Hamas and use “all military and civilian pressure, including evacuation of the Gaza population south and implementing US President Trump’s voluntary migration plan for Gaza residents”.
Katz instructed the army “to seize additional areas in Gaza, evacuate the population, and expand security zones around Gaza to protect Israeli communities and soldiers”, local media quoted him as saying.
Doesn't need to be said but of course 97% of the people in Gaza are not a member of Hamas nor its civil government.
Most people also never voted for Hamas:
How George W. Bush Helped Hamas Come to Power
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/10/was-hamas-elected-to-govern-gaza-george-w-bush-2006-palestinian-election.html
It was in January 2006 that the Palestinian territories held what turned out to be their last parliamentary elections. Hamas won a bare plurality of votes (44 percent to the more moderate Fatah party’s 41 percent) but, given the electoral system, a strong majority of seats (74 to 45). Neither party was keen on sharing power. Fighting broke out between the two. When a unity government was finally formed in June 2007, Hamas broke the deal, started murdering Fatah members, and, in the end, took total control of the Gaza Strip. Those who weren’t killed fled to the West Bank, and the territories have remained split ever since.
In other words, Hamas’ absolute rule of Gaza is not what the Palestinians voted for back in 2006. In fact, since the median age of Gazans is 18, half of Hamas’ subjects weren’t even born when the election took place. Since they have known no alternative, have absorbed little information but Hamas propaganda, and have witnessed periodic outbursts of violent conflict with Israel throughout their lives, it is impossible to know what they really think about their rulers.
But we need to ask another question: Why did the 2006 elections take place? The explanation lies in the political ideals—or, more correctly, the naïveté—of President George W. Bush. (Much of this comes from the reporting for my 2008 book, Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power.)
It always leads back to the US...
