O
n Friday, August 8, the Israeli security cabinet decided to evacuate the city of Gaza – meaning more than 1,000,000 people who had already been displaced – aiming to complete the operation by October 7. The same cabinet also approved "taking control" of the Gaza Strip. This term was chosen instead of "occupation" because it carries no legal implications. After all, an occupation regime grants rights to the occupied population and specifically protects them against forced displacement.
The decision reveals the ideological consistency of the Israeli prime minister. Often depicted as motivated solely by the desire to stay in office and to avoid his court cases – essentially as a master opportunist – Benjamin Netanyahu has, in reality, consistently pursued a structured political plan: the destruction of the Palestinian national project in favor of a "Greater Israel."
Aligned with the views of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Netanyahu has always rejected the idea of a Palestinian state. To oppose the Oslo Accords, he participated in vehement protests shortly before the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and has always refused to meet with Mahmoud Abbas. In both his writings and speeches, he asserts that Palestinians do not exist, only "Arabs," thus denying the historical existence of these people.
