Netanyahu’s plan to fully occupy Gaza is both cynical and stupid
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing an unprecedented struggle in Gaza.
Despite massive destruction and displacement, he has failed to declare victory, enforce a ceasefire, or offer an exit plan.
Bishara suggests that Netanyahu is cornered – if he withdraws, Hamas could quickly return to power; if he stays, he faces growing dissent from Israeli military leaders opposed to a prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Occupation of Gaza City seen as Israel’s ‘institutionalisation of domination’ over population
Many Palestinians, in fact, in the early hours of this morning, said the Israeli decision to occupy Gaza City is not seen as a strategic or tactical manoeuvre, but is seen as the institutionalisation of domination … that people have been enduring more than 22 months of displacement, fear and relentless bombardment.
Now their misery is about to be complicated further by Israel’s potential step to expand its ground operations to focus primarily on Gaza City, which right now holds hundreds of thousands of people who are living in makeshift tents and partially destroyed buildings and schools, UN-run clinics and shelters.
Many of those who were given the chance to return to northern Gaza did so after the former ceasefire agreement that was brokered between Hamas and Israel.
Now they are facing the same threat, which is to be forcibly displaced from their homes and towns to other parts of the Strip under the pretext of fighting Hamas and armed factions in these areas.
People say that this has been the fear … and right now it has become a looming reality that Israel will control Gaza City.
Israel military has experience that occupation of Gaza ‘almost impossible to do’
Former US intelligence officer Glenn Carle spoke to Al Jazeera earlier about Israel’s plan to occupy Gaza City and how the Israeli military should know “better than anybody” what happened during their previous occupation of Gaza.
“It was a terrible dilemma and almost impossible to do, so I think that’s what the military is confronted with now,” Carle said, adding that some Israeli military officials have reportedly assessed that it could take up to five years to completely defeat Hamas in Gaza.
While Carle said he was surprised at such a timeline, he said that Israel’s military occupation could face an “infinite number of problems”.
“Humanitarian, civil, political, and military. Because there will be probably endless disaffected young men who – whether organised or not – will lash out,” he said.
Israel’s security cabinet adopts ‘five principles’ for ending war
As we have been reporting, Israel’s security cabinet backed Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to militarily occupy Gaza City and impose a siege on Hamas fighters there.
As part of the hours-long meeting on Thursday night, the cabinet also agreed in a majority vote upon “five principles” for ending its deadly assault on Gaza, according to a statement from Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office.
Those principles are:
- The disarming of Hamas.
- The return of all the captives – the living and the deceased.
- The demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip.
- Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip.
- The establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
More like 5 principles for not ending the genocide.
1. not gonna happen until either everyone is dead or peace has been achieved.
2. not gonna happen until the fighting ends and the IDF withdraws. (although could get the all back by killing everyone)
3. not gonna happen as long as occupation and threat of raids continues.
4. not gonna happen as Israel simply doesn't have the man power to patrol Gaza and 2 million people.
5. That's what the Palestinians want but probably not the kind Israel has in mind...
