The Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Sunday published an editorial accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military of “conducting an ethnic cleansing operation” in northern Gaza.
The piece cited the paper’s military correspondent, who, after touring the area with Israeli forces last week, concluded that the region looked as if it had been struck by a “natural disaster”.
The editorial emphasised that the devastation was a “premeditated act of human destruction.”
It reported that a senior officer, identified by the Guardian as Brigadier General Itzik Cohen, the commander of the 162nd Division, told reporters: “My task is to create a cleansed space…We are moving the population for its protection, in order to create freedom of action for our forces.”
When asked if the military was executing the ‘Generals’ Plan,’ which includes ethnically cleansing the area and killing any Palestinians who remain, the officer denied knowledge of it, insisting that the army was “acting on the instructions of the [Israeli military’s] Southern Command and chief of staff.”
He added that his division has been directing humanitarian aid away from the “cleansed zone” in northern Gaza toward the south.
Israeli forces have barred the entry of food, water and medicine into northern Gaza since it launched a new major offensive on the region – including in Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun – in early October.
The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) warned on Saturday that there is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” in northern Gaza.
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini accused Israel of weaponising hunger against Gaza’s population, insisting that the looming famine is “man made.”
Haaretz laid the blame squarely on Netanyahu.
“Its important to call things by their name,” Haaretz wrote, highlighting that the forced expulsion of northern Gaza’s residents is being conducted under the direction of its commanders, who are “subordinate to the directives of the political leadership: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” and his defence minister.
“Instead of talking about the ‘Generals’ Plan,’ we should be talking about Netanyahu’s Orders,” the editorial reads.
