Former Israeli Defense Minister Recognizes Ethnic Cleansing Is Underway in Gaza

https://truthout.org/articles/former-israeli-defense-minister-recognizes-ethnic-cleansing-is-underway-in-gaza/

Former Israeli Defense Minister Recognizes Ethnic Cleansing Is Underway in Gaza

Center right politician Moshe Ya’alon ignited a firestorm by acknowledging that Israel is engaged in ethnic cleansing.

By Mike Ludwig , TRUTHOUT
Published December 3, 2024

Joining a growing chorus of liberal-leaning Israelis, a former Israeli defense minister has accused the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes and carrying out ethnic cleansing in besieged northern Gaza as Israeli forces block humanitarian aid and dig in for a long-term occupation.

Moshe Ya’alon, a member of Israel’s center right Telem party who served for three decades in the Israeli military and as the military’s chief of staff, also said Israel’s identity as a liberal Jewish democracy is being lost to a “corrupt and leprous fascist Messianic state.”

“Conquering, annexing, ethnic cleansing — look at northern Gaza,” Ya’alon told Israel’s Democrat TV on Sunday.

For months Israel has officially denied accusations of ethnic cleansing, and the interviewer expressed surprise at Ya’alon’s use of the term. Ya’alon responded by naming two Palestinian cities that have been reduced to rubble and pointing to the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, which has been under a deadly siege since October as Israeli forces hunt for small pockets of resistance among remaining civilians.

“What’s happening there? There’s no Beit Lahia. There’s no Beit Hanoun,” Ya’alon said. “They’re currently operating in Jabalya, and essentially, they’re cleaning the area of Arabs.”

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