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Middle East Eye
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK sanctions must target roots of settler violence - starting with Smotrich and Ben Gvir
In Israel, there is an infamous metaphor known as "mowing the grass". Like many other terms used by the state, it is a horrific and dehumanising phrase that refers to Israel's longstanding practice of regular, short, sharp bombardments of Gaza in order to 'keep Palestinians in their place'. It's used openly by Israeli politicians and military figures who see Palestinian civilians either as collateral damage, or as part of the "lawn" themselves. Nowadays, it feels a bit dated, considering how Israel's current genocide in Gaza dwarfs the bombardments that preceded it. The grass is no longer mowed; now it's scorched earth. But last week, when the UK government issued a new round of settler sanctions for three individuals and four entities in the occupied West Bank, I thought not of lawns, but of weeds. These sanctions are trimming the branches instead of digging out the roots. It's the same thing I thought when piecemeal sanctions packages were announced last year, in February, May and October. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Sanctioning a few individuals and entities won't even begin to scratch the surface - not while extremist senior Israeli ministers are calling for an unprecedented expansion of illegal settlements. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are the grand architects of the current wave of illegal settlement expansion. Sanctions must target them to begin to affect change, not just an unhinged interviewee on the latest Louis Theroux documentary. And even then, that would simply be the first step. More than half a century of illegal occupation will not miraculously end with a change of Israeli government. Pervasive violence Sanctions must target the architects because of how pervasive settlement violence is. Last month, I took a delegation of British MPs to the West Bank so they could see the day-to-day realities of occupation - from refugee camp clearances in Tulkarm in the north, all the way down to settler violence in the villages of Masafer Yatta in the south. There are countless emotions I could recall: the shock of being spat at in Jerusalem for wearing a crucifix, the fear of being pulled over at gunpoint in Hebron, and the awe-inspiring bravery, hope and tenacity that Palestinian refugees in Tulkarm showed, even as they spoke of being displaced from the refugee camps where their families had lived since the Nakba. Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war I could talk at length about all these experiences, but most chilling of all was simply the degree to which settlers and soldiers seemed to work in collaboration; the total air of impunity with which settlers swaggered around, perversely relishing the task of dispossessing indigenous people. The first such example we witnessed was in Susiya, a Palestinian village in Masafer Yatta that was expropriated by Israel in 1986, its Palestinian residents expelled. Today, only a small community of steadfast Palestinians remain there. Settler terrorism: Palestinians are becoming prisoners in their own homeland Read More » Our delegation in Susiya was surrounded by illegal Israeli settlers wearing militia-style body armour, and armed to the teeth with assault rifles and clubs. They were clearly there to intimidate. Two Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene and began laughing and joking with the settlers. It wasn't just that they were unconcerned with what the settlers were doing; they appeared to be actively enjoying the show. As they stood side-by-side - casually wielding their weapons, and wearing camouflage Kevlar jackets adorned with Israeli flags - it was suddenly very clear how blurred the lines of power and authority were. Distinguishing between settler violence and state violence feels like semantics in such a situation. We saw this impunity again in Hebron, as we were having lunch with a Palestinian human rights defender on his patio, bordered by metal fences with security cameras. Their usefulness was proven immediately, when two settlers came up to the fence and started shouting at our host: 'How much is your house?' When he said it wasn't for sale, they replied: 'It doesn't matter, we're going to buy it anyway.' They went on to insult Islam, and said that all Arabs needed to leave. Asked why, they simply replied: 'Because God gave us this land.' Metres away, Israeli soldiers looked on listlessly. Digging out the roots This is by no means an exhaustive account, even for the short week or so that I was there. In Jerusalem, I saw a settler strolling around the crowded market streets, surrounded by his children, while holding his assault rifle casually, pointed down in their direction. I contemplated how strange it was to encounter someone who clearly gains such satisfaction from provoking fear in others, and thought about what might be said from a sociological perspective about a society that produces so many people of this disposition. These settlers are pawns in a grand political vision that repudiates morality while laying claim to it But targeting each settler individually is not going to make any real difference. It is precisely such light-touch approaches that have enabled a settler-colonial, apartheid system to persist for more than half a century. Settlers can act this way only because they are emboldened by the extremist rhetoric of their leaders and the actions of soldiers. It is in this collaboration that the beating heart of the settler-colonial, apartheid system lies. Each time Ben Gvir storms Al-Aqsa compound with his settlers, each time Smotrich calls for a Palestinian village to be 'erased', it's fuel for extremist settlers as they cultivate their burning hatred of Palestinians. These settlers are pawns in a grand political vision that repudiates morality while laying claim to it. Instead of piecemeal sanctions, the only solution is to tackle the problem at its source; to dig out the roots, and sanction the ministers responsible for orchestrating this nightmare. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Israel approves 22 West Bank settlements amid war with Hamas, pressure for Palestinian state
Legal Affairs correspondent Sarah Ben-Nun explains the context of settlement approval, touching on expansion during the Israel-Hamas War, IDF operations in the West Bank, and more. The government approved on Thursday the establishment of 22 new settlements in the West Bank, as part of a joint initiative by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The Jerusalem Post Legal Affairs correspondent Sarah Ben-Nun explains the context and implications of the decision, touching on settlement expansion during the Israel-Hamas War, IDF operations in the northern West Bank, and the upcoming French and Saudi summit on Palestinian statehood.
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Far-right Israeli minister announces creation of 22 West Bank settlements
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. (EPA Images pic) JERUSALEM : Far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced today the creation in the occupied West Bank of 22 new settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. 'We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel,' the minister said on X, using the Israeli term for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967. 'Next step: sovereignty!' he added. In a statement on Telegram, the Likud party of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move a 'once-in-a-generation decision', saying the initiative had been led by Smotrich and defence minister Israel Katz and approved by the security cabinet. 'The decision also includes the establishment of four communities along the eastern border with Jordan, as part of strengthening Israel's eastern backbone, national security and strategic grip on the area,' it said. The party published a map showing the 22 sites spread across the territory. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are condemned by the United Nations as one of the main obstacles to a lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. The announcement comes ahead of an international conference to be led by France and Saudi Arabia at UN headquarters in New York next month, which is meant to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff said yesterday he had 'very good feelings' about the prospects for a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, adding that he expected to send out a new proposal imminently.
CNN
a day ago
- Health
- CNN
Israel's plan to ‘conquer' Gaza is leaving Palestinians with little place to go: 5 maps show how
Even before Israel's war in Gaza started, the territory was one of the most densely populated places on the planet, described by United Nations officials as an 'open-air prison.' Now, Israeli forces are expanding their operations, cramming the population into an ever-shrinking patch of land. Israel's latest military offensive, named 'Gideon's Chariots,' aims to finally 'conquer' the territory, as one government minister put it. Almost 80% of the enclave has come under evacuation orders or been designated as a militarized zone since March 18 when Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas, according to the UN. Since then, Israel has a declared policy – backed by the US – to encourage resettlement of Gaza's residents. As part of the 'intensified operation,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the whole population of Gaza – around 2 million people – will be displaced to the south of the 140 square-mile territory. The Israeli military claims the operation is aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing hostages. Meanwhile, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the operation could lead to a complete takeover of the territory. 'We are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip,' he said after Israel's security cabinet approved the expanded campaign. See what Israel's expanding operation means on the ground, in five maps. Some Gazans in the north say they have fled to the nearby coastline in a last-ditch effort to escape the renewed bombardment, exhausted by Israel's 19-month assault. Others are sleeping in tents surrounded by the rubble of their former homes, fearful to leave in case they are forced out of Gaza. Since Israel broke the ceasefire in mid-March, at least 2-3 kilometers (1.2-1.9 miles) into Gaza's land border is a no-go zone, which includes a 1 kilometer-wide (around 0.6 miles) buffer area next to Israeli territory where homes, factories and farmland have been systematically levelled. Access to the Mediterranean Sea to fish is all but banned. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), most fishing boats have been destroyed and Palestinians fishing meters from the shore have been targeted. Another militarized corridor was established in early April — the Israeli-demarcated 'Morag Corridor' in Rafah — with the stated intention of 'dividing the strip.' This is one of at least four routes established to control Gaza by the Israeli military who demolish and clear all buildings and cropland to make way for them. At least 31 evacuation orders have been issued by Israeli forces since March 18 this year covering large areas of the strip, sometimes at the rate of two a day. As a result, an estimated 600,000 people in Gaza have been displaced in that time (this figure includes people who may have been displaced multiple times), according to the United Nations-led Site Management Cluster. Evacuation orders aren't necessarily permanent, but Israel has not stated how long they are active. CNN has asked the Israeli military if the orders expire and how that information is shared with people in Gaza but has not received a reply. In northern Gaza, these orders have recently been accompanied by instructions to move south, despite ongoing attacks there too. This week, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for most of southern Gaza with directives to head toward the Al-Mawasi area, ahead of what its spokesperson said would be an 'unprecedented attack.' Aid groups have criticized the use of these directives, branding them as confusing, often inaccurate and overly reliant on an internet connection which most people in Gaza only have intermittent access to. The delivery mechanism is varied, with some receiving text messages or phone calls ahead of an attack, while for others the first sign is incoming Israeli fire. On the ground, Gaza no longer looks familiar to residents, with most landmarks destroyed or damaged, including shops, trees and roads, making it much more difficult to navigate. In order to move around, people need to pass through heavily militarized checkpoints, usually on foot. 'There's no place for my children and me to sleep, and I don't know what to do,' Iman Al Agha, a mother of six who said she was forced out of the northern city of Beit Lahia when Israeli quadcopters started shooting at her and her family, told CNN last week. 'I've been on the street with my children for three days, and I can't find a place to settle,' she said. 'I wish for death at any moment. I don't know what to do with my children or where this life will take us. There is no solution.' Since Israel launched its war in Gaza following Hamas' deadly October 2023 attacks, Gazans have been displaced an average of six times – some up to 19 times – according to the Danish Refugee Council. For many, repeated displacement means reliving the trauma of generations uprooted by what Palestinians call al-Nakba, or 'the catastrophe,' when roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in historic Palestine, during the creation of Israel in 1948. Most of the remaining areas that are not under evacuation orders or militarized are heavily damaged. A assessment by the CUNY Graduate Center found 60% of buildings are destroyed while the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said 92% of homes have either been damaged or destroyed. According to the UN Satellite Centre, 68% of roads are also damaged, which adds to the complications of transporting aid around the strip. Of the agricultural land, a report published in the Journal of Science of Remote Sensing found around 80% of tree crops — such as olives and fruit trees — are likely damaged, as well as 65% of greenhouses used to grow food such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries. The FAO has also reported that all cropland in Rafah, and nearly all cropland in the northern governorates are not accessible. Al-Mawasi, where many people have been instructed to go by the Israeli military, is a narrow coastal strip in southern Gaza. Once rural farmland, by February it was the most populated area in Gaza with an estimated 116,000 people, almost 6% of the enclave's population, displaced there, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Sufficient shelter is now incredibly scarce in Gaza. Omar Alsaqqa, a Gaza resident who works for aid group Médecins Sans Frontières in Khan Younis, said in a statement provided to CNN that there are no tents left and no space for people to set up. 'I don't know what to answer when colleagues ask me where they can go with their children in the middle of the night. We are running out of options to stay alive,' he said. Nada Siyam, a displaced woman who gave birth in her tent in Gaza City last week, told CNN that there isn't even a bed for her newborn, Eid, to sleep on. 'My child is two days old and is suffering from the heat. There are many mosquitoes and rats all around us. We live in the streets amidst all this filth,' she said. Further south, aid workers say they are overstretched, burnt out and fearful that they won't be able to provide adequate care for a potential influx of more uprooted people. Beginning on March 2, an 11-week blockade stopped all humanitarian aid from entering the strip. In the past week, some aid has entered through the southern Kerem Shalom crossing, but humanitarian agencies say food has yet to reach the over half a million people currently facing starvation across Gaza. 'It remains far from enough to meet the soaring humanitarian needs,' UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said. Medical facilities are already experiencing critical shortages of 'almost all essential materials, from basic consumables to infection prevention and control, to life-saving medications,' Summer Al Jamal, who works at Nasser Hospital on the outskirts of Khan Younis for UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, told CNN last week. 'If military operations continue, the existing health facilities will simply not be able to cope with the numbers of displaced people,' Al Jamal said. They are also facing an 'overwhelming number of cases that require urgent, specialized medical care. Care that we can no longer provide,' Al Jamal added, while recalling how a 10-year-old boy who recently suffered head trauma in an airstrike that killed his family could not be treated as the medication he needed is no longer available in Gaza. 'If the situation remains unchanged, we do not expect to receive any medical supplies in the near future,' she said. As well as medical aid, experts say Israel's displacement plans will necessitate the significant restructuring of Gaza's water supply system, much of which has already been destroyed or damaged since the war began. 'By forcing the population to move around… will further complicate access to water because new water points will have to be set up, new routes, new water trucking,' Wim Zwijnenburg, who analyses the environmental impact of conflicts for the Dutch peace organization PAX, told CNN. In southern Gaza, the 140,000 litres of fuel needed weekly to maintain water supply operations was not received last week, leading to warnings from local officials of an imminent full-scale shutdown, the UN reported on May 21. 'The situation is especially dire in Al-Mawasi, which is not connected to the water network,' the UN said, adding that the area depends entirely on water being delivered via trucks. There are hundreds of truckloads worth of water, sanitation and hygiene supplies stuck outside of the strip ready to cross the border 'at any moment once allowed in,' UNICEF told CNN on Thursday. Israel's displacement plans have received international backlash in recent weeks, with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada threatening to take 'concrete actions,' including sanctions, if Israel does not stop its latest military operations and continues to block aid from entering Gaza. Netanyahu has vowed to push forward with the fresh offensive: 'At the end of the operation all areas of the strip will be under Israeli security control,' he said last Wednesday. Meanwhile, despite everything, some Gazans plan to resist Israel's latest directives. 'This is our land, and we will not leave it. We will resist, and we live on our land,' Abdul Naser Siyam, who shares a makeshift tent with 22 other people in northern Gaza, told CNN. 'Just imagine how it would be if we left and went to the land of others.'
CNN
a day ago
- General
- CNN
Israel's plan to ‘conquer' Gaza is leaving Palestinians with little place to go: 5 maps show how
Even before Israel's war in Gaza started, the territory was one of the most densely populated places on the planet, described by United Nations officials as an 'open-air prison.' Now, Israeli forces are expanding their operations, cramming the population into an ever-shrinking patch of land. Israel's latest military offensive, named 'Gideon's Chariots,' aims to finally 'conquer' the territory, as one government minister put it. Almost 80% of the enclave has come under evacuation orders or been designated as a militarized zone since March 18 when Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas, according to the UN. Since then, Israel has a declared policy – backed by the US – to encourage resettlement of Gaza's residents. As part of the 'intensified operation,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the whole population of Gaza – around 2 million people – will be displaced to the south of the 140 square-mile territory. The Israeli military claims the operation is aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing hostages. Meanwhile, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the operation could lead to a complete takeover of the territory. 'We are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip,' he said after Israel's security cabinet approved the expanded campaign. See what Israel's expanding operation means on the ground, in five maps. Some Gazans in the north say they have fled to the nearby coastline in a last-ditch effort to escape the renewed bombardment, exhausted by Israel's 19-month assault. Others are sleeping in tents surrounded by the rubble of their former homes, fearful to leave in case they are forced out of Gaza. Since Israel broke the ceasefire in mid-March, at least 2-3 kilometers (1.2-1.9 miles) into Gaza's land border is a no-go zone, which includes a 1 kilometer-wide (around 0.6 miles) buffer area next to Israeli territory where homes, factories and farmland have been systematically levelled. Access to the Mediterranean Sea to fish is all but banned. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), most fishing boats have been destroyed and Palestinians fishing meters from the shore have been targeted. Another militarized corridor was established in early April — the Israeli-demarcated 'Morag Corridor' in Rafah — with the stated intention of 'dividing the strip.' This is one of at least four routes established to control Gaza by the Israeli military who demolish and clear all buildings and cropland to make way for them. At least 31 evacuation orders have been issued by Israeli forces since March 18 this year covering large areas of the strip, sometimes at the rate of two a day. As a result, an estimated 600,000 people in Gaza have been displaced in that time (this figure includes people who may have been displaced multiple times), according to the United Nations-led Site Management Cluster. Evacuation orders aren't necessarily permanent, but Israel has not stated how long they are active. CNN has asked the Israeli military if the orders expire and how that information is shared with people in Gaza but has not received a reply. In northern Gaza, these orders have recently been accompanied by instructions to move south, despite ongoing attacks there too. This week, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for most of southern Gaza with directives to head toward the Al-Mawasi area, ahead of what its spokesperson said would be an 'unprecedented attack.' Aid groups have criticized the use of these directives, branding them as confusing, often inaccurate and overly reliant on an internet connection which most people in Gaza only have intermittent access to. The delivery mechanism is varied, with some receiving text messages or phone calls ahead of an attack, while for others the first sign is incoming Israeli fire. On the ground, Gaza no longer looks familiar to residents, with most landmarks destroyed or damaged, including shops, trees and roads, making it much more difficult to navigate. In order to move around, people need to pass through heavily militarized checkpoints, usually on foot. 'There's no place for my children and me to sleep, and I don't know what to do,' Iman Al Agha, a mother of six who said she was forced out of the northern city of Beit Lahia when Israeli quadcopters started shooting at her and her family, told CNN last week. 'I've been on the street with my children for three days, and I can't find a place to settle,' she said. 'I wish for death at any moment. I don't know what to do with my children or where this life will take us. There is no solution.' Since Israel launched its war in Gaza following Hamas' deadly October 2023 attacks, Gazans have been displaced an average of six times – some up to 19 times – according to the Danish Refugee Council. For many, repeated displacement means reliving the trauma of generations uprooted by what Palestinians call al-Nakba, or 'the catastrophe,' when roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in historic Palestine, during the creation of Israel in 1948. Most of the remaining areas that are not under evacuation orders or militarized are heavily damaged. A assessment by the CUNY Graduate Center found 60% of buildings are destroyed while the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said 92% of homes have either been damaged or destroyed. According to the UN Satellite Centre, 68% of roads are also damaged, which adds to the complications of transporting aid around the strip. Of the agricultural land, a report published in the Journal of Science of Remote Sensing found around 80% of tree crops — such as olives and fruit trees — are likely damaged, as well as 65% of greenhouses used to grow food such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries. The FAO has also reported that all cropland in Rafah, and nearly all cropland in the northern governorates are not accessible. Al-Mawasi, where many people have been instructed to go by the Israeli military, is a narrow coastal strip in southern Gaza. Once rural farmland, by February it was the most populated area in Gaza with an estimated 116,000 people, almost 6% of the enclave's population, displaced there, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Sufficient shelter is now incredibly scarce in Gaza. Omar Alsaqqa, a Gaza resident who works for aid group Médecins Sans Frontières in Khan Younis, said in a statement provided to CNN that there are no tents left and no space for people to set up. 'I don't know what to answer when colleagues ask me where they can go with their children in the middle of the night. We are running out of options to stay alive,' he said. Nada Siyam, a displaced woman who gave birth in her tent in Gaza City last week, told CNN that there isn't even a bed for her newborn, Eid, to sleep on. 'My child is two days old and is suffering from the heat. There are many mosquitoes and rats all around us. We live in the streets amidst all this filth,' she said. Further south, aid workers say they are overstretched, burnt out and fearful that they won't be able to provide adequate care for a potential influx of more uprooted people. Beginning on March 2, an 11-week blockade stopped all humanitarian aid from entering the strip. In the past week, some aid has entered through the southern Kerem Shalom crossing, but humanitarian agencies say food has yet to reach the over half a million people currently facing starvation across Gaza. 'It remains far from enough to meet the soaring humanitarian needs,' UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said. Medical facilities are already experiencing critical shortages of 'almost all essential materials, from basic consumables to infection prevention and control, to life-saving medications,' Summer Al Jamal, who works at Nasser Hospital on the outskirts of Khan Younis for UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, told CNN last week. 'If military operations continue, the existing health facilities will simply not be able to cope with the numbers of displaced people,' Al Jamal said. They are also facing an 'overwhelming number of cases that require urgent, specialized medical care. Care that we can no longer provide,' Al Jamal added, while recalling how a 10-year-old boy who recently suffered head trauma in an airstrike that killed his family could not be treated as the medication he needed is no longer available in Gaza. 'If the situation remains unchanged, we do not expect to receive any medical supplies in the near future,' she said. As well as medical aid, experts say Israel's displacement plans will necessitate the significant restructuring of Gaza's water supply system, much of which has already been destroyed or damaged since the war began. 'By forcing the population to move around… will further complicate access to water because new water points will have to be set up, new routes, new water trucking,' Wim Zwijnenburg, who analyses the environmental impact of conflicts for the Dutch peace organization PAX, told CNN. In southern Gaza, the 140,000 litres of fuel needed weekly to maintain water supply operations was not received last week, leading to warnings from local officials of an imminent full-scale shutdown, the UN reported on May 21. 'The situation is especially dire in Al-Mawasi, which is not connected to the water network,' the UN said, adding that the area depends entirely on water being delivered via trucks. There are hundreds of truckloads worth of water, sanitation and hygiene supplies stuck outside of the strip ready to cross the border 'at any moment once allowed in,' UNICEF told CNN on Thursday. Israel's displacement plans have received international backlash in recent weeks, with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada threatening to take 'concrete actions,' including sanctions, if Israel does not stop its latest military operations and continues to block aid from entering Gaza. Netanyahu has vowed to push forward with the fresh offensive: 'At the end of the operation all areas of the strip will be under Israeli security control,' he said last Wednesday. Meanwhile, despite everything, some Gazans plan to resist Israel's latest directives. 'This is our land, and we will not leave it. We will resist, and we live on our land,' Abdul Naser Siyam, who shares a makeshift tent with 22 other people in northern Gaza, told CNN. 'Just imagine how it would be if we left and went to the land of others.'
