Israel on path to make Gaza unlivable while seeking to destroy Hamas

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Dr. Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor of public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, revealed that while the US is turning a blind eye to the continuous massacre, Tel Aviv is continuing its Rafah operation without a clear end-game strategy.

(Article republished from GreatGameIndia.com)

After carrying out a fatal attack on a camp for displaced people in the area on Sunday, Israel sent tanks on incursions into Rafah on May 29. CNN reports that US-made weapons were used in the attack on Sunday, which left 200 people injured and at least 45 dead. However, the Biden administration maintains that Tel Aviv is not engaging in a significant ground operation that violates any US sanctions.

“IN ISRAEL’S VISION, THEY WANT TO ACHIEVE A FULL VICTORY,” SAID DR. TAMER QARMOUT, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN PUBLIC POLICY AT THE DOHA INSTITUTE FOR GRADUATE STUDIES. “AND FOR THEM, A FULL VICTORY INVOLVES RELEASING THE CAPTIVES AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, ENDING HAMAS’ RULE IN GAZA COMPLETELY. (…) NOW, IT HAS BEEN ALMOST EIGHT MONTHS OF THIS WAR, AND OBVIOUSLY ISRAEL HASN’T BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE ANY OF THESE GOALS.”

Qarmout asserts that Israel may need years to eradicate Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups. He said that the question is whether the world will allow the continuous slaughter of Gazans.

Tel Aviv hinted on May 29 that the conflict in Gaza would probably last at least until 2024. Israeli Army Radio then quoted War Cabinet Minister Gadi Eisenkot, stating that “three to five years will be needed for a significant stabilization” in the Gaza Strip.

“WITH ALL THE MASSACRING AND THE GENOCIDAL WAR ISRAEL HAS EMBARKED ON, WE SEE NOW THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IS REALLY FED UP FROM THIS, THE ICC, THE ICJ RULINGS, AND ISRAEL AND THE US ARE BECOMING PRETTY MUCH ISOLATED,” SAID QARMOUT. “WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW IS THE REALIZATION BY MANY ISRAELI MILITARY LEADERS, INCLUDING POLITICIANS, BUT NOT NETANYAHU AND HIS RIGHTWING GOVERNMENT THAT THESE GOALS ARE HARD TO ACHIEVE.”

The researcher claims that while the Netanyahu cabinet can devastate Gaza from a civic perspective and render it uninhabitable, this does not mean that Hamas will be destroyed.

“The Israelis so far don’t have an exit, a way out of the Gaza swamp, the way I put it. And so far, what they’re doing is destroying the civil order in Gaza, destroying the livelihood of Gaza itself,” Qarmout said, adding that Tel Aviv is presently in discussions with the US, European, and Arab countries about ruling the post-war strip. “Israel wants to have an upper-security hand over Gaza, but they don’t want to bear the price or the cost of re-occupying Gaza and being in charge of its 2.5 million inhabitants.”

An investigation by Al Jazeera claims that the Israeli military’s buffer zone has caused the Gaza Strip to shrink by over 32%. According to the media site, the strip’s overall area has decreased by about 120 square kilometers, or 46 square miles, based on satellite photographs.

Since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began its operations in Rafah, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave the city.

The analyst went on to say that it’s incredible that Israel launched a genocide in Gaza to eliminate just one paramilitary organization: Hamas.

“NOT ALL GAZANS ARE HAMAS. HAMAS IS ONLY ONE FRACTION, ONE MILITARY-POLITICAL FRACTION OF THE PALESTINIAN SOCIETY. (…) ORDINARY PALESTINIANS HAVE NO SAY OR AN OPINION OF THE WHEREABOUTS OF HAMAS. SO THEY CANNOT BE COLLECTIVELY TARGETED BECAUSE ISRAEL IS UNABLE TO REACH HAMAS MILITANTS. SO THEY GO AND HIT CIVILIANS IN REVENGE FOR THEIR FAILURE.”

Qarmout claims that because Israel is protected by Washington, it is proceeding with its war plans in spite of the mounting condemnation from the international community: “The US has provided an umbrella of protection through the UN, through the veto power in the Security Council.”

Israel has been urged by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” This was indicated on May 24.

Tel Aviv, on the other hand, read the decision in its favor, asserting that it is not being asked to carry out genocide in Rafah. On May 25, Israel’s N12 network heard Tzachi Hanegbi, Netanyahu’s national security adviser, state, “We did not commit genocide and we will not commit genocide.”

“AS FAR AS I UNDERSTAND, THE ISRAELIS ARE NOT BOUND BY ANY CRITERIA BECAUSE THEY HAVE AN IMPLICIT US ‘GREEN LINE’,” SAID QARMOUT. “FROM THE ONSET OF THIS WAR, THE US HAS DRAWN MANY RED LINES AND ISRAEL HAS BEEN IN BREACH OF ALL THESE RED LINES, AND THE US HAS BEEN SILENT ON IT. EVERY TIME THEY FIND AN EXCUSE OR JUSTIFICATION TO DEFEND ISRAEL.”

“The US is very complicit in this conflict. And it cannot take any higher moral grounds and say: ‘Well, we advise the Israelis, whatever’. But in reality, that does not matter, in this criminal war actions matter,” the academic concluded.

Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that EU foreign ministers, prompted by recent attacks in Rafah, are seriously contemplating sanctions against Israel if it continues its military operation, as stated by Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin.