Israel Defense Minister Declares Permanent Gaza Occupation. Again.
The mainstream reports this as news: 'Israel will never leave Gaza,' says Defense Minister Gallant, reportedly contemplating resettlement in northern Gaza (RT News). This isn't a new policy; it's a re-run of a colonial ambition. Israel 'left' Gaza in 2005 only to impose a crippling blockade, turning it into the world's largest open-air prison. Gallant's rhetoric mirrors previous statements by
high-ranking Israeli officials, such as Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on 'security control' over Palestinian territories, a euphemism for indefinite occupation dating back to the Oslo Accords' strategic ambiguities (1990s). The idea that this is a fresh policy ignores a 75-year history of incremental land seizures and control. One might wonder when 'never leaving' Gaza became compatible with a
'two-state solution' lauded by the Biden administration. Perhaps the US State Department is simply hoping no one remembers what 'two states' actually implies. The billions in unconditional US military aid, lobbied heavily by organizations like AIPAC (which funneled $27 million into the 2022 elections according to OpenSecrets.org), certainly doesn’t incentivize a change in Israeli policy. Why
compromise when the world's superpower bankrolls your maximalist demands?