Netanyahu’s Goal for Gaza:
“Thin” Population “to a Minimum”
Ryan Grim / The Intercept
(December 3, 2023) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked his top adviser, Ron Dermer, the minister of strategic affairs, with designing plans to “thin” the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip “to a minimum,” according to a bombshell new report in an Israeli newspaper founded by the late Republican billionaire Sheldon Adelson.
The outlet, Israel Hayom, is considered to be something of an official organ for Netanyahu. It reported that the plan has two main elements: The first would use the pressure of the war and humanitarian crisis to persuade Egypt to allow refugees to flow to other Arab countries, and the second would open up sea routes so that Israel “allows a mass escape to European and African countries.”
Dermer, who is originally from Miami, is a Netanyahu confidante and was previously Israeli ambassador to the United States, and enjoys close relations with many members of Congress.
The plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians faces some internal resistance from less hard-line members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, according to Israel Hayom.
Israel Today and other Israeli media are also reporting on a plan being pushed with Congress that would condition aid to Arab nations on their willingness to accept Palestinian refugees. The plan even proposes specific numbers of refugees for each country: Egypt would take one million Palestinians, half a million would go to Turkey, and a quarter million each would go to Yemen and Iraq.
The reporting relies heavily on the passive voice, declining to say who put the proposal together: “The proposal was shown to key figures in the House and Senate from both parties. Longtime lawmaker, Rep. Joe Wilson, has even expressed open support for it while others who were privy to the details of the text have so far kept a low profile, saying that publicly coming out in favor of the program could derail it.”
To underscore how absurd the refugee resettlement plan is, the de facto Houthi government in Yemen claimed an attack today on a US ship as well as commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
Netanyahu’s plan: Force Palestinians to flee to Egypt, Türkiye, Yemen and Iraq.
Back on October 20, in a little-noticed message to Congress, the White House asked for $3.495 billion that would be used for refugees from both Ukraine and Gaza, referencing “potential needs of Gazans fleeing to neighboring countries.”
“This crisis could well result in displacement across border and higher regional humanitarian needs, and funding may be used to meet evolving programming requirements outside of Gaza,” the letter from the White House Office of Management and Budget reads. The letter came two days after Jordan and Egypt warned they would not open their borders to a mass exodus of Palestinians, arguing that past history shows they would never be able to return.
To subscribe to this newsletter, you can sign up here and you can share it using this link. On this week’s episode of Deconstructed, I spoke with “Breaking Points” co-host Krystal Ball about my new book, “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.” You can listen to it on whichever podcast platform you use, and the video has been posted on Krystal’s channel.
A US B-2 bomber drops a highly desructive “bunker-buster” bomb.
Report: US Has Supplied Israel with
Bunker Buster Bombs, Thousands of Weapons
Faruk Zorlu / Anadolu Agency
TURKIYE (December 2, 2023) — The US has sent a substantial arsenal, including large bunker-busting bombs, to support Israel since Oct. 7, according to the Wall Street Journal. The influx of weaponry — consisting of approximately 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells — has been carried on C-17 military cargo planes shortly after the start of the conflict in the Gaza Strip and has continued in recent days, said the exclusive report, citing US officials.
“The US hasn’t previously disclosed the total number of weapons it sent to Israel nor the transfer of 100 BLU-109, 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs,” it said.
Bunker-buster bombs are known for their capability of penetrating deep into fortified structures before detonating.
The list of munitions sent by the US to Israel comprises of more than 5,400 MK84 bombs, 5,000 unguided MK82 bombs, about 1,000 GBU-39 small-diameter bombs, and around 3,000 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) that convert unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions, it said.
The Israeli army resumed bombing the Gaza Strip early Friday after declaring an end to a week-long humanitarian pause. At least 193 Palestinians have been killed and 652 injured since Friday in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
More than 15,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas. Around 1,200 Israelis have also been killed, according to official estimates.
Comment
Natalya P — “The list of munitions sent by the US to Israel comprises of more than 5,400 MK84 bombs, 5,000 unguided MK82 bombs, about 1,000 GBU-39 small-diameter bombs, and around 3,000 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) that convert unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions, it said.”
Isn’t it too late to complain to Israel that it is using what the US had sent? All that to kill 3 people Israel has claimed it is after? In the meantime, the bombs have killed the president of Islamic University in Gaza and his family.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
