Is Israel Ethnic Cleansing North Gaza? Israel’s Military Said Palestinians It Expelled Won't Be Allowed To Return Home
An Israeli general told reporters that his task was to “create a cleansed space” and move the population “for its protection” in order to “create freedom of action for our forces”.
In what many are calling ethnic cleansing, Israel’s military has said that Palestinians it forced from North Gaza will not be allowed to return home.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, an Israeli general told reporters that its army was close to the “complete evacuation” of North Gaza, which it has been besieging since Oct. 6.
He added that “there is no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return.”
This prompted outrage as people said Israel was ethnically cleansing north Gaza.
Two days later, the Israeli military tried to distance itself from the comments, saying they were taken out of context and did not “reflect the army’s objectives and values”.
However, on Sunday, Nov. 10, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an editorial accusing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “conducting an ethnic cleansing operation” in northern Gaza "for all to see".
The paper said its military correspondent had accompanied the army into the area and concluded that it looked like it had been “hit by a natural disaster” but it was a “premeditated act of human destruction.”
Haaretz reported that the general had told reporters that his task was to “create a cleansed space” and move the population “for its protection” in order to “create freedom of action for our forces”.
He also reportedly said that his division has been directing humanitarian aid away from northern Gaza toward the south.
The general denied it was executing the “Generals’ Plan”, which involves ethnically cleansing north Gaza and killing any Palestinians who remain.
Reports estimate that about 100,000 Palestinians remain trapped in the north without access to food, water or medical supplies.
And people who try to get out are getting killed, with Israel having killed more than 1,300 Palestinians in the north since it began its siege on Oct. 6.
Israeli forces have also been repeatedly attacking hospitals, setting them on fire and arresting civilians, patients and medical staff.
Famine is now "imminent” in north Gaza, according to experts.
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