Netanyahu Moves Towards the Displacement of Gaza and Annexation of the West Bank

Author: سليمان أبو ارشيد

In a complete alignment between his personal/party interests and what he considers Israel's supreme interest, which his achievement will immortalize in the Zionist record alongside the founding fathers, led by David Ben-Gurion, Netanyahu is moving with unprecedented American support, reminiscent only of the support Great Britain provided to the Zionist movement on the eve of establishing its state. Proud of his victories in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, he is diligently pursuing the implementation of a plan to displace the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip according to Trump's plan, and to annex the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty over most of its lands according to Smotrich's plan, thereby consolidating Israel's actual control over all of historical Palestine and extending its hegemony over the entire Arab region.

In this context, Netanyahu's repudiation of the partial prisoner exchange deal after Hamas approved it, along with his insistence on executing the plan to occupy Gaza approved by his government, comes despite the opposition of the chief of staff of the army and warnings from military and political experts about its catastrophic consequences for the Palestinian population, and despite its exorbitant cost in terms of Israeli prisoners' lives and the potential loss of dozens, if not hundreds, of soldiers, as well as its impact on the cohesion of the reserve army and the strain on the Israeli economy and society.

The occupation of Gaza is taking place concurrently with the revival of Trump's plan regarding "Gaza Riviera," where the "Washington Post" revealed a document presented to the U.S. administration discussing the "temporary relocation" of all Gaza Strip residents (over two million people) and transforming the Strip into an area governed by an organization under American supervision, including the "establishment of cities based on artificial intelligence, and providing economic incentives to Palestinians who intend to leave the Strip by relocating them to another country, or "safe areas" within the Strip. These incentives include five thousand dollars for families to assist in renting an apartment for four years and food for one year.

Netanyahu and his American and Israeli Zionist experts who prepared the plan hope that the operation to occupy Gaza will succeed where all previous operations and displacement plans have failed, which were shattered against the steadfastness of Gaza's residents and their resistance, and that Trump's plan regarding "Gaza Riviera" will be thrown into the dustbin of history.

Meanwhile, Smotrich hopes and works diligently under Netanyahu's mantle, concurrently imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, where he presented his map-supported plan yesterday, which includes imposing Israeli sovereignty over 82% of West Bank lands, stating: "No settlement blocs or Area C because they will leave the rest of the land to the enemy and give him the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, God forbid, that would be larger than the State of Israel and leave us at the borders of Auschwitz," indicating that it is a "historical and security necessity that has broad consensus in the Knesset and among the public."

As is well known, Smotrich does not limit himself to plans and maps drawn on paper, but has been working since taking office, and especially after October 7, to unleash armed settler gangs protected by the Israeli army against Palestinian gatherings and villages in Area C and elsewhere, engaging in burning, killing, and destruction, spreading terror and panic among the Palestinian residents, as part of a systematic process to evacuate Area C and as much of Area B as possible from Palestinian residents, in line with his previously mentioned plan that aims to control the largest possible area of land with the least number of inhabitants.

However, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and other leaders of the fascist right-wing government are fully aware that the key to the success of all these plans lies in Gaza, and that without breaking the back of Gaza's resistance, they will not be able to achieve any of the abominable dreams of Zionism, religious and non-religious, represented by the displacement of the residents of Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty over it while evacuating most of its area from Palestinians.

Meanwhile, military experts are skeptical about the Israeli army's ability to occupy Gaza and displace its residents, warning of the city turning into a "death trap" for Israeli soldiers and prisoners while being capable of defeating the Palestinian resistance led by Hamas even if it manages to occupy Gaza. In this context, General Yitzhak Brick states that the occupation plan for Gaza imposed by Netanyahu on Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir is an absurd plan, pointing out that Hamas operates from within a tunnel network extending hundreds of kilometers across the Strip, and that once the Israeli army enters Gaza, Hamas's control centers will be moved outside the city and the command room will relocate to other places, meaning that the presence of the Israeli army in Gaza will not affect Hamas's operations, while the result will be the death of Israeli prisoners and fallen soldiers and the establishment of a military rule with all the responsibilities that entails.