Latest news with #concentration camp
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Amid heated debate, no real plan for Israel's 'humanitarian city' in Gaza
An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defense establishment, but officials say a practical plan has yet to be crafted. Even without a clear blueprint, opposition critics have denounced the proposal, with some likening the suggested site to a "concentration camp," which could lead to ethnic cleansing in the coastal enclave devastated by 21 months of conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration has defended the project, saying it would offer civilians a safe haven while further weakening Hamas militants' grip on Gaza, but it remains unclear whether it is a concrete government policy.
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel's proposed ‘humanitarian city' in Gaza likened to a concentration camp
An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called 'humanitarian city' in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defense establishment, but officials say a practical plan has yet to be crafted. Even without a clear blueprint, opposition critics have denounced the proposal, with some likening the suggested site to a 'concentration camp', which could lead to ethnic cleansing in the coastal enclave devastated by 21 months of conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration has defended the project, saying it would offer civilians a safe haven while further weakening Hamas militants' grip on Gaza, but it remains unclear whether it is a concrete government policy. The idea was floated by Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier this month and Netanyahu convened minister and defense officials to discuss it late on Sunday. The military had been asked to put together a detailed proposition, but Netanyahu dismissed it as far too costly and complicated, two Israeli officials who were present said, and ordered them to come up with something cheaper and faster. An Israeli military source said it was a complex initiative that required intricate logistics for infrastructure such as sewage, sanitation, medical services, water and food supplies. Planning was in a very initial phase only, the source said, and the goal was to help Palestinians who do not want to live under Hamas rule. Hamas did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Some commentators have suggested the real aim of floating the plan was to increase pressure on Hamas during ongoing ceasefire talks, while also appeasing right-wingers in the cabinet who oppose any truce. Netanyahu's office and the Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The plan Katz outlined the plan on July 7 at a briefing with Israeli military correspondents. It followed a proposal by US President Donald Trump, which was publicly embraced by Netanyahu but widely criticized abroad, for Gazans to move to third countries while the battered enclave was rebuilt. Almost all of Gaza's population of more than 2 million people has already been uprooted during the conflict, which was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel. Katz said last week that around 600,000 people would be moved to the new encampment, to be built in southern Gaza abutting the Egyptian border where Israeli forces have gained control and which, like much of Gaza, now lies in ruins. The new zone, in Rafah, would be free of any Hamas presence and run by international forces, not Israeli ones, Katz was quoted by both Israel public broadcaster Kan and Army Radio's military correspondents as saying at the July 7 briefing. He was also quoted as saying that the people who chose to move there would not be free to leave. Katz's spokesman declined to comment. Zeev Elkin, an Israeli minister who sits on Netanyahu's security cabinet, told Kan the plan aimed to weaken Hamas' power in Gaza. 'The more you separate Hamas from the population, the more Hamas will lose. As long as Hamas controls the food, the water and the money, it can go on recruiting militants,' Elkin said. Asked about concerns the relocations there would be forced and whether the new zone was meant to serve as transit camps with the ultimate aim of expelling Palestinians from Gaza, the military official who spoke with Reuters said: 'that is not our policy.' When asked about the plan, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: 'As we've said multiple times, we firmly stand against any plan that involves forced displacements of civilians in Gaza or forces (them) to make impossible choices.' 'Mainly spin' Since Katz's briefing, Israeli media has been awash with leaks. Left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, on July 9 citing senior military officials, said the plan had met resistance from the military because of its legal and logistical challenges. On Sunday, Israel's N12 News said the military objected to the plan because it could scupper ceasefire talks in Doha, while the Ynet news site cited officials as saying it would cost 10 billion to 15 billion shekels ($3 billion to $4.5 billion). The report drew a rebuke from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said that some people in the defense establishment were trying to sabotage the plan by presenting inflated budgets. 'Preparing a protected area for the population,' Smotrich's office said, 'is a simple logistical operation that costs only hundreds of millions – an amount that the Ministry of Finance is willing to transfer.' After Sunday's discussions, hardline national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dismissed the controversy as a smokescreen to distract from concessions Israel may be willing to make in the ceasefire talks with Hamas. Ben-Gvir, like Smotrich, wants Israel to press on with the war, Palestinians to leave Gaza and Jewish settlements that were dismantled there two decades ago to be rebuilt. 'The debate surrounding the establishment of the humanitarian city is mainly spin aimed at concealing the deal that is brewing,' Ben-Gvir posted on X. He said there was no way it could be built during the proposed 60-day ceasefire. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Monday the plan was dangerous and would not materialize. 'Will the residents of this city be allowed to leave it? If not, how will they be prevented? Will it be surrounded by a fence? A regular fence? An electrical fence? How many soldiers will guard it? What will the soldiers do when children want to leave the city?' he said at Israel's parliament.
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Israeli government and military clash over proposed camp for Palestinians
A feud has broken between the Israeli government and the military over the cost and impact of a planned camp for Palestinians in southern Gaza, as politicians criticised the former prime minister Ehud Olmert for warning that the project would create a 'concentration camp' if it goes ahead. The 'humanitarian city' project has become a sticking point in ceasefire talks with Hamas. Israel wants to keep troops stationed across significant parts of Gaza, including the ruins of Rafah city in the south, where the defence minister, Israel Katz, says the camp will be built. Hamas is pushing for a more comprehensive withdrawal. Husam Badran, a senior member of the group, said the camp plans were a 'deliberatively obstructive demand' that would complicate talks, the New York Times reported. 'This would be an isolated city that resembles a ghetto,' he said in a message to the paper. 'This is utterly unacceptable and no Palestinian would agree to this.' Katz revealed last week that he had ordered the army to draw up plans for a camp. It is envisaged that Palestinians would be crammed into an area between the Egyptian border and the Israeli military's 'Morag corridor', which cuts across the strip. Katz said initially 600,000 people would move there, and eventually Gaza's entire population. Those inside would only be allowed to leave for another country, he told Israeli journalists at a briefing. The plan was unveiled while the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Washington DC for an official visit, but it was understood to have his backing. The plan caused immediate alarm among Israel's allies, including the UK, and domestically. Olmert, who led Israel from 2006 to 2009, has been the most high-profile domestic critic of the project. He said that if Palestinians were forced to move to the camp, it would constitute ethnic cleansing. His comments evoking comparisons with Nazi-era Germany were fiercely attacked inside Israel. The heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, in effect called for Olmert to be jailed over the comments, with a barely veiled reference to time he served for corruption offences after leaving office. '[Olmert] already knows prison very well,' Eliyahu said. 'There is no other way to shut him down from the hatred and antisemitism he spreads around the world.' The military has also opposed the project, even as it has followed orders to draw up plans to implement it. In a security cabinet meeting on Sunday night, tensions broke out into the open as the IDF chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, clashed with Netanyahu, Israeli media reported. Zamir reportedly said the project would divert funds and other resources from the military, sapping its ability to fight and undermining efforts to rescue hostages. His office had previously argued that moving and 'concentrating' civilians was not a goal of the war, in response to a legal petition brought by reservists concerned they would face illegal orders to commit war crimes. Netanyahu reportedly lashed out at Zamir, saying the plans he had presented – which estimated several months of construction work, and perhaps up to a year – were 'too expensive and too slow', Israel's Channel 12 reported, citing official sources. 'I asked for a realistic plan,' the prime minister reportedly said, demanding that a cheaper, faster timeline for construction be delivered by Tuesday. Finance ministry officials raised other practical objections to the 'humanitarian city' plan, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported. They said an estimated 15bn shekels (£3.3bn) annual cost would be a huge drain on the state's budget. That cost would probably fall on the Israeli taxpayer, taking money away from schools, hospitals and welfare, the paper added. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Senior Israeli officials estimate that constructing a proposed 'humanitarian city' in the Rafah area would cost between $2.7bn and $4bn, Ynet reported. They added that if the plan proceeds, Israel would initially bear nearly the entire cost. The row came as Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals. Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including three who were waiting at an aid distribution point, according to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, which received the bodies. Shifa hospital in Gaza City received 12 bodies, including three children and two women, after a series of strikes in the north, according to the hospital's director, Dr Mohammed Abu Selmia. Al-Awda hospital reported seven killed and 11 wounded in strikes in central Gaza. UN agencies, including those providing food and health care, reiterated a warning made at the weekend that without adequate fuel they would probably be forced to stop their operations entirely. In a joint statement, they said hospitals were already going dark and ambulances could no longer move. Transport, water production, sanitation and telecommunications would shut down and bakeries and community kitchens could not operate without fuel, they said.
RNZ News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Former Israeli leader says planned ‘humanitarian city' in Gaza would be ‘concentration camp'
By Eugenia Yosef and Oren Liebermann , CNN Ehud Olmert said Palestinians were deported into the new 'humanitarian city it would be part of "an ethnic cleansing". Photo: AFP / Stephane de Sakutin A planned "humanitarian city" inside Gaza intended to hold hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be a "concentration camp," former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned. Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week he had told the military to advance plans for the zone , which would eventually contain the entire population of Gaza. The area would be built on the ruins of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, and once Palestinians enter the zone, they would not be allowed to leave. Katz also vowed to implement a plan for the emigration of Palestinians from Gaza. "It is a concentration camp. I am sorry," Olmert told The Guardian newspaper on Sunday. "If they (Palestinians) will be deported into the new 'humanitarian city', then you can say that this is part of an ethnic cleansing." In response to Olmert's comments, the Prime Minister's Office called him a "convicted felon disgracing Israel on CNN." In a statement, the office said: "We evacuate civilians. Hamas blocks them. He calls that a war crime?" Olmert was freed from prison in 2017 after serving 16 months on corruption charges. Olmert has previously blasted the conduct of the Israeli military in Gaza and the country's political leadership. In May, he said he could no longer defend Israel against accusations of war crimes. "What is it if not a war crime?" he asked rhetorically in an interview with CNN. He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right members of his government are "committing actions which can't be interpreted any other way." More than 58,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The latest comments from Olmert, who served as Israel's prime minister from 2006-2009, go much further in criticizing the country's intentions in Gaza, however, especially since comparisons to Nazi concentration camps in Israel is considered virtually unthinkable. But Olmert said it was the "inevitable interpretation" of the plans. "When they build a camp where they (plan to) 'clean' more than half of Gaza, then the inevitable understanding of the strategy of this (is that) it is not to save (Palestinians). It is to deport them, to push them and to throw them away," Olmert told the Guardian. Katz's plans for what he dubbed the "humanitarian city" were discussed at a meeting with Netanyahu on Sunday evening, according to a source familiar with the matter. But after Israeli news outlets reported that it would take months to build the zone and billions of dollars, the source said Netanyahu asked to make its establishment shorter and less expensive. Yair Lapid, the head of Israel's opposition, blasted the plans as an attempt by Netanyahu to let his far-right government partners "run wild with extreme fantasies just to preserve his coalition." In a statement on social media, Lapid called to "end the war and bring back the hostages." Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer, told CNN last week that Katz's plan amounts to the forcible transfer of a population in preparation for deportation. Both of these are war crimes, Sfard said. "If they are done on a massive scale - whole communities - they can amount to crimes against humanity," Sfard added, dismissing the notion that any departure from Gaza could be considered voluntary. - CNN
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Israel's military and political leadership clash over proposed camp for Palestinians
A feud has broken between the Israeli government and the military over the cost and impact of a planned camp for Palestinians in southern Gaza, as politicians attacked former prime minister Ehud Olmert for warning that the project would create a 'concentration camp' if it goes ahead. The 'humanitarian city' project has become a sticking point in ceasefire talks with Hamas. Israel wants to keep troops stationed across significant parts of Gaza, including the ruins of Rafah city in the south, where defence minister, Israel Katz, says the camp will be built. Hamas is pushing for a more comprehensive withdrawal. Husam Badran, a senior member of the group said the camp plans were a 'deliberatively obstructive demand' that would complicate talks, the New York Times reported. 'This would be an isolated city that resembles a ghetto,' he said in a message to the paper. 'This is utterly unacceptable, and no Palestinian would agree to this.' Katz last week revealed that he had ordered the army to draw up plans for a camp. It envisages Palestinians crammed into an area between the Egyptian border and the Israeli military's 'Morag corridor', which cuts across the strip. He said initially 600,000 people would move there, and eventually Gaza's entire population. Those inside would only be allowed to leave for another country, he told Israeli journalists at a briefing. The plan was unveiled while prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Washington DC for an official visit, but was understood to have his backing. The plan caused immediate alarm both among Israel's allies, including the UK, and domestically. Olmert, who led Israel from 2006 to 2009, has been the most high-profile domestic critic of the project. He also warned that if Palestinians were forced to move to the camp, it would constitute ethnic cleansing. His comments evoking comparisons with Nazi-era Germany were fiercely attacked inside Israel. Heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, effectively called for Olmert to be jailed over the comments, with a barely veiled reference to time he served for corruption offences after leaving office. '(Olmert) already knows prison very well,' Eliyahu said. 'There is no other way to shut him down from the hatred and antisemitism he spreads around the world.' The military has also opposed the project, even as they followed orders to draw up plans to implement it. In a security cabinet meeting on Sunday night, tensions broke out into the open as IDF chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, clashed with Netanyahu, Israeli media reported. Zamir reportedly said the project would divert funds and other resources from the military, sapping its ability to fight and undermining efforts to rescue hostages. His office had previously argued that moving and 'concentrating' civilians was not a goal of the war, in response to a legal petition brought by reservists concerned they would face illegal orders to commit war crimes. Netanyahu reportedly lashed out at Zamir, saying the plans he presented – which estimated several months of construction work, and perhaps up to a year – were 'too expensive and too slow', Israel's channel 12 reported, citing official sources. 'I asked for a realistic plan!' the prime minister reportedly said, demanding a cheaper, faster timeline for construction be delivered by Tuesday. Finance ministry officials raised other practical objections to the 'humanitarian city' plan, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. They said an estimated 15 billion shekels annual cost would be a huge drain on the state's budget. That cost would probably fall on the Israeli taxpayer, taking money away from schools, hospitals and welfare, the paper added. Senior Israeli officials estimate that constructing a proposed 'humanitarian city' in the Rafah area would cost between $2.7bn and $4bn, Ynet reported. They added that, if the plan proceeds, Israel would initially bear nearly the entire cost. The row came as Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals. Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including three who were waiting at an aid distribution point, according to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, which received the bodies. Shifa hospital in Gaza City also received 12 bodies, including three children and two women, after a series of strikes in the north, according to the hospital's director, Dr Mohammed Abu Selmia. Al-Awda hospital reported seven killed and 11 wounded in strikes in central Gaza. UN agencies, including those providing food and health care, reiterated a warning made at the weekend that without adequate fuel, they 'will likely be forced to stop their operations entirely.' In a joint statement, they said that hospitals are already going dark and ambulances can no longer move. Without fuel, transport, water production, sanitation and telecommunications will shut down and bakeries and community kitchens cannot operate, they said.
