The ‘soft’ phase of Israel’s Gaza genocide

Gaza has stopped being a headline for the international press. Media attention has moved on to other things. However, the killing has not stopped and neither has the genocide. Israel’s schemes for the Palestinians have not changed, just the methods have changed. Israel has adopted a more low-key approach while using other means to deliver its cruel plans.

On Tuesday, Israel blew up the Morag Water Station in northern Rafah. The station provided water to about 70,000 residents. A few days earlier, Israel bombed people sheltered in tents in Gaza City and Khan Younis, killing at least 31 Palestinians, including six children. What can be the reason for such malicious acts? The obvious reason is a desire to make the life of Gazans so difficult that they leave and never come back. Israel’s plan is very clear: ethnic cleansing.

This is not the first Gaza ceasefire to have languished in its first phase. In May 2024, the US, Qatar and Egypt mediated a ceasefire. The first phase consisted of a temporary ceasefire, partial hostage release and humanitarian aid surge. The second phase was intended to deliver an end to the war, the release of all the remaining hostages and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Of course, Israel reneged. It took the maximum number of hostages it could and then reneged on the agreement. 

Remember those who said that if the hostages were returned the war would end. Well, it still has not ended because it was never about the hostages. Now that the excuse of the hostages has been removed from Israel, it has a new excuse: Hamas

The war is not about the hostages or Hamas, it is about the Palestinians and Gaza itself. It is about ethnic cleansing

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

However, it is not about Hamas either, it never has been. It is about the Palestinians and about Gaza itself. It is about ethnic cleansing. This project started with the birth of the Zionist state. It then morphed depending on who was in charge in Tel Aviv and on the international mood and circumstances, but it never gave up on its objective. Today, we see a rerun of the 2024 scenario. Israel is taking the maximum it can and stopping at phase one. Though the start of phase two was announced in Davos last month, the goals of phase one have still not been achieved.

After the latest ceasefire came into effect last October, US Central Command established the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat. The entity has representatives from more than 50 countries and international organizations. It is tasked with coordinating aid, monitoring the ceasefire and planning reconstruction. Where were they when Israel killed 31 people in their tents? There was not a word. Israel has killed more than 500 people since the ceasefire came into effect. If the center’s job is to monitor the ceasefire, it is doing a lousy job.

This entity is merely for show and acts as a smokescreen for Israel to carry out its project. We should also remember the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, whose aid distribution sites were a deathtrap. More than 830 Gazans were shot while seeking aid from them. The Civil-Military Coordination Center is not very different.

Israel is still preventing the entry of essential items into Gaza, with America’s blessing. The most important item is shelters. People are freezing. At least 11 children have died due to the cold weather. Any word from the Civil-Military Coordination Center? None. Any effort to compel Israel to allow the entry of shelters? None. What does preventing the death of children from hypothermia have to do with the demilitarization of Gaza? None. Israel always uses the “but Hamas” excuse to renege on its obligations. It is like a rabbit that Israel pulls out of a hat whenever it is cornered.

Egypt and the Arab states remain vigilant. They know that Israel will use all means possible to empty the Strip

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

Another important issue is the opening of the Rafah crossing. Israel has applied its crooked method of disinformation regarding the Rafah crossing. In December, it announced that the border crossing point would be opened. However, there was a caveat. Israel wanted to open the crossing for Palestinians to leave only. We have seen this scenario many times before. Those who leave can never come back. Egypt refused and insisted that the crossing needs to be opened in both directions.

It is important to highlight the role Egypt has played in preventing Israel from ethnically cleansing Gaza. The Cairo government has resisted various pressures and even extortion by both the Biden and Trump administrations to allow the ethnic cleansing of Gaza under different pretexts.

After intensive negotiations, Israel once again agreed to the opening of the Rafah crossing this week. However, Israel is allowing only 50 patients, accompanied by a maximum of two relatives, to leave the Strip each day. In exchange, only 50 people who left Gaza during the war are allowed to return. Egypt and the Arab states remain vigilant. They know that Israel will use all means possible to empty the Strip and to conduct ethnic cleansing during the so-called ceasefire.

The problem is that, even though the genocide is ongoing and the ceasefire is only on paper, the world seems to believe the Israeli lie. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Territories, nailed it when she said a “ceasefire” according to Israel is “you cease and I fire.”

The Palestinian side has fulfilled its obligations, whereas the Israeli side has not. This is why the pressure should remain. Arab countries and others who want peace in Palestine should use every international platform possible to make sure Israel is held accountable for every breach of the ceasefire. And the world should know the genocide has not stopped — however, now it is a “soft genocide.”

• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.