In this opinion video, David Hearst, editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, said the US-Israeli “redevelopment” plan for Gaza must be called by its true name: ethnic cleansing on a scale unseen since Nazi-occupied Europe.
Hearst argues that Israel’s war on Gaza is not about self-defence, defeating Hamas or freeing captives. Its true objective, he says, is to forcibly transfer the Palestinian population from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, permanently altering the region’s demographics.
He talks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US, where Trump effectively handed him a mandate – not to end the war, but to push forward with annexation and ethnic cleansing. By wrecking the painstakingly negotiated ceasefire, Trump has removed any incentive for Hamas to continue releasing Israeli captives, making it clear that total destruction awaits them regardless.
Netanyahu may boast that “the roar of the Lion of Judah is heard loudly throughout the Middle East”, but Hearst warns that his arrogance blinds him. If this war continues, it will not end with the forced displacement of Palestinians; it will provoke a regional reckoning that Israel itself will not escape.
Hearst concludes that every Palestinian understands this. And for that reason, they will not leave. If the war resumes, he says, the world can be certain that Palestinians will die where they stand.
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Produced by: Middle East Eye
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