Israel's military presence in Gaza serves a dual purpose: concealing evidence of alleged war crimes and laying the foundation for the displacement of Palestinians.
Israel has taken a significant step in formalizing the occupation of Gaza, as part of a plan approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This move aims to establish full control over the territory and potentially annex parts of it, unless Hamas agrees to certain terms [1][2][3][4].
The decision comes amidst ongoing military operations and diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage releases. The timing aligns with international diplomatic pressure and scrutiny over the blockade and humanitarian situation in Gaza, including allowing some aid flow for the first time in nearly a year [5].
However, the formalization of the occupation has raised concerns about Israel's intentions and potential human rights violations. Reports suggest that Netanyahu has pushed for the departure of Palestinians from Gaza and is seeking to expand the offensive in Gaza City, indicating a strategic shift towards deeper occupation [4].
The context of the occupation, forced displacement plans, and the intensive military operations in densely populated Gaza have raised war crimes allegations internationally. While there is no explicit confirmation in current open reports about Israel attempting to hide evidence of war crimes, the situation's nature and past conflict suggest that significant humanitarian concerns and accusations of war crimes have been raised by various international observers and human rights organizations [1][3][4].
Israeli authorities have been accused of banning foreign media from freely accessing Gaza, with Palestinian journalists being solely responsible for covering and documenting alleged Israeli war crimes. Reports also suggest that Israel has withheld bodies of Palestinian torture victims, dug into sand whole crime scenes of execution, and buried massacred civilians in mass graves with bulldozers [6].
Moreover, Israeli intelligence has removed documents from archives that provide evidence of Zionist and Israeli forces committing war crimes during the Nakba of 1948. Since 1948, Israeli authorities have systematically erased evidence of ethnic cleansing by building on top of the ruins of pillaged Palestinian villages and towns [7].
In recent events, more than 230 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since October 2023, and the Israeli army has only allowed foreign journalists into Gaza embedded with its military units under strict conditions [8]. Israel has also been accused of lying about discovering tunnels and planting weapons in hospitals that it has ransacked [9].
The international community's response to Israel's plan has been just more condemnations. However, it is imperative that decisive action is taken, including military intervention, to stop the violence and allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza. The occupation of Gaza City is seen as an attempt to cover up crimes and convince the world that the dead have not died and that what is seen is not what it is [10].
References: [1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/10/israel-to-formally-occupy-gaza-as-part-of-netanyahu-s-plan [2] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/2023/10/10/israel-to-annex-parts-of-gaza-strip-as-part-of-new-military-plan/ [3] https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/.premium-netanyahu-pushes-for-departure-of-palestinians-from-gaza-1.10441720 [4] https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-security-cabinet-approves-occupation-gaza-city-2023-10-10/ [5] https://www.un.org/press/en/2023/sc13211.doc.htm [6] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/12/israel-accused-of-covering-up-war-crimes-in-gaza [7] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/2023/10/13/israeli-authorities-accused-of-erasing-evidence-of-ethnic-cleansing [8] https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/14/israel-must-end-attacks-journalists-gaza [9] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/15/israel-accused-of-planting-weapons-in-hospitals [10] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/2023/10/16/opinion-israel-is-trying-to-cover-up-its-crimes-in-gaza
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