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A week ago, The Independent vowed to speak out against the war in Gaza. Every day since then has given us new reasons for doing so. The Israel Defense Forces has repeatedly bombarded the tiny strip of land that is home to two million Palestinians.
We cannot rely on the Hamas-controlled health ministry to provide reliable figures for the casualties, but, as the Israeli government will not allow independent observers to assess the damage, we must assume the worst. On Friday night, for example, more than 100 people were reported to have been killed, and the death toll over three days is likely to be three times higher.
The Independent has always supported the right of the state of Israel to defend itself, and to try to recover the hostages, but this offensive goes well beyond the needs of self-defence and is opposed by the families of the hostages, who fear that it puts the lives of their relatives at greater risk.
For some in the Israeli cabinet, the aim of this operation is as clear as it is odious – to make life for the Palestinians in Gaza so difficult and dangerous that they are forced to flee.
Bezalel Smotrich, a defence minister, has said: “The Gazan citizens will be concentrated in the south. They will be totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has not been so explicit, so far suggesting only that the population will be moved “for its own protection” inside Gaza; but it is hard to draw any other conclusion from his actions than that Mr Smotrich’s aim is his aim too.
On the anniversary of what the Palestinians call the Nakba in 1948, the “disaster” when many of them fled their homes in territory seized by Israel and made their way to refugee camps in Gaza, the suggestion that they should be driven out of Palestinian lands altogether is particularly offensive. It should be condemned by the international community.
The reports, which have not been denied, that the Trump administration has considered a plan to relocate the population of Gaza to Libya confirm that the United States is no longer anything like an honest broker in this conflict. President Trump has thrown his lot in with Mr Netanyahu, who is pursuing a counterproductive strategy that will increase Israel’s isolation in the world.
The Libya plan would seem to be an extension of Mr Trump’s idea in February – which was offensive enough – to turn Gaza into a second Riviera of the Mediterranean.
The world knows that a war against Hamas that ends in the mass deportation of an entire population will only compound the justified grievance of the Palestinian people, from which new organisations committed to violence will emerge.
The hopes of a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine now seem forlorn. The best that the international community can work for would be a lifting of the blockade that is preventing any humanitarian aid reaching the population of the Gaza Strip. As The Independent’s reporting has confirmed, the threat of starvation is real for those who survive the missile attacks.
An end to the blockade must be followed by a ceasefire that protects the people of Gaza from immiseration, dispossession and death.
Yet the response from world leaders has been muted at best.
Again, we urge Sir Keir Starmer to find his voice. He must call on Mr Netanyahu, and enjoin Mr Trump and all world leaders to call on Mr Netanyahu, to end the blockade, and to end the senseless bombardment.
English (US) ·