Israel uses its prisoners as a pretext to occupy Gaza

Following a cabinet meeting held on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the occupation forces will expand their military operation –genocide—in the Gaza Strip in order to eradicate Hamas, end its rule in the blockaded coastal enclave, and free the remaining 59 Israeli prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance.

Israel’s Channel 12 said that the cabinet’s decision means that Netanyahu is sacrificing the Israeli prisoners for an elusive victory. Netanyahu insisted that the expansion of the genocide campaign is the only way that the prisoners will be freed and the attacks of 7 October would not be repeated.

This move was met with a huge backlash from the Israeli opposition and the families of the Israeli prisoners. Both sides harshly criticised Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers and insisted that the leaders of the extremist parties inside the government are imposing their plans which stem from fanatic ideologies.

Leader of the Israeli Opposition, Yair Lapid, accused Netanyahu of sacrificing the safety and freedom of the Israeli prisoners in Gaza. He stressed that Netanyahu’s continuous genocide in Gaza has only one political goal – keeping his government alive, and evading due process as he has been prosecuted for several corruption cases and is also expected to be prosecuted for the events of 7 October.

Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon also said: “The government is sacrificing 59 prisoners held in the Hamas tunnels in order to appease the extremist parties… The government is sending the soldiers to an aimless war. Its head is doing this just for only one goal –remaining in office… This bad government must be replaced immediately.”

While Netanyahu has said that the aim of the expansion of the genocide is to defeat Hamas and free the Israeli prisoners, the opposition have accused him of pursuing personal interests. Some ministers have, however, exposed the real goals behind it. Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich said that the real goal is to “to occupy Gaza permanently.”

 READ: Netanyahu moves to expand war on Gaza, Israel media says

At the same time that the Israeli cabinet decided to expand the genocide in Gaza, it also approved a plan to allow aid to the starving Gazans who have been suffering from a severe lack of food and clean water for months. The plan, according to the Israeli media, includes allowing aid to certain places completely controlled by the Israeli occupation forces and partner American security firms to distribute the aid.

Many observers and organisations, including the UN and its partners, have condemned this Israeli plan as an occupation mechanism. All of them have refused to take part in this mechanism, stressing this would dehumanise the people of Gaza.

Sunday’s Guardian editorial criticised the Israeli total blockade of all food and water entering Gaza for the past two months and starving more than two million people. It noted that Israel has simply sped up its starvation programme of the coastal enclave.

“We have to stop fearing the word ‘occupation’ as we plan not to withdraw from the areas we control in Gaza even if we reached a deal or even if we sacrificed the hostages,” Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Israeli defence ministry, said.

He added: “We will force all the residents of the Gaza Strip to the south – south of the Morag Corridor. We will implement this plan in the West Bank, but when we are done with Gaza.”

It is very clear that the plan is to force the people of Gaza out and occupy the entire area, not only establishing a buffer zone.

Netanyahu and his ministers have also referred to US President Donald Trump’s plan to depopulate Gaza several times. This plan was even discussed during Sunday’s meeting of the Netanyahu cabinet.

Many Israeli strategists, current and former army officers, academics, and government officials have started speaking out against this plan. “Families of the hostages believe that ending Hamas is an empty slogan raised by Netanyahu. It is used just to continue his war,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported families of the Israeli prisoners as saying.

Israel’s National Security Institute conducted a poll finding that 74 per cent of the Israeli people do not believe that Netanyahu is planning to end the war in Gaza. Israel Beitenu party leader Avigdor Lieberman said: “The expansion of the military operation in Gaza has a political aim –staying in the government, even at the expense of the hostages.”

The Israeli cabinet gave the plan to expand the military operation in Gaza a codename –The Vehicle of Gideon. This name has a historical connotation as it was the name of the military aggression and occupation of the Palestinian city of Baysan. On that occasion the Israeli occupation forces pushed its residents out and occupied it; they have continued to occupy it to this day.

After all of this, will Netanyahu and his extremist government succeed or not? Regarding the Israeli occupation forces, they are immoral and are ready to continue their brutal crimes which have been ongoing well before 1948.

As for the Gaza residents, they are determined to die in their land rather than flee and live in other people’s lands. The Palestinian resistance also insist that it will not surrender as long as there is an occupation.

Of course, there is still a window of opportunity to stop the Israeli plan. It is the international community, that is if it chose to wake up from its long sleep and assume their moral responsibilities and those that stem from international laws and conventions.

 READ: ‘Voluntary migration’ doesn’t disguise Israel’s forced displacement campaign in Gaza amid deafening international silence

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.