• Rights groups, legal experts and UN officials have repeatedly warned that Israel intends to ethnically cleanse Gaza
• Threats from Israeli officials to expel the enclave’s over 2 million population range from nuclear strikes to relocating Gazans to an artificial island

ISTANBUL

Apart from the deadly bombardment that has now killed nearly 26,000 people since Oct. 7, a constant theme of Israel’s ongoing Gaza offensive has been the dehumanization of Palestinians and statements explicitly conveying an intent to expel the entire population of the besieged Palestinian territory.

These statements have been repeatedly denounced by rights groups, legal experts and UN officials as plans for ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Other incendiary remarks about the total annihilation of Gaza and its people are also a key part of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is scheduled to rule on the request for provisional measures on Friday.

The common denominator of all these controversial plans is to decrease the number of Gazans living in the Strip – whether through forcibly deporting them to the bordering Egypt’s Sinai peninsula or an artificial island in the Mediterranean, through permanent occupation of Gaza with illegal Jewish settlements, or straight-out calls for dropping a nuclear bomb.

They have even been rejected by Israel’s staunchest ally, the US.

“Washington has made it clear that civilians must not be pressed to leave Gaza under any circumstances,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US envoy to the UN, said in a recent statement.

“We unequivocally reject statements by some Israeli ministers and lawmakers calling for a resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. These statements, along with statements by Israeli officials calling for the mistreatment of Palestinian detainees or the destruction of Gaza, are irresponsible, inflammatory, and only make it harder to secure a lasting peace,” she added.

Dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza

Without a doubt, the most damning of all Israeli threats was revealed on Wednesday, when Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu renewed his call for destroying the Gaza Strip with a “nuclear bomb.”

“Even in The Hague they know my position,” he said in an interview, in reference to the ICJ.

Eliyahu had earlier said in November that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip is “an option.”

The hardline minister, who uses extremist rhetoric against Palestinians, also called for encouraging Gaza’s population to migrate from the enclave.

The South African legal team at the ICJ has also included Eliyahu's statements in its filing to the top UN court.

David Campbell, an associate professor at the University of Vienna, criticized Eliyahu’s remarks as “completely unjustifiable.”

“Those plans are totally unacceptable,” he told Anadolu, also referring to Israel’s plans to relocate Gazans from their territory.

Campbell also emphasized that the minister belongs to a far-right ideology and has drawn ire from the Western world.

“The reaction to his remarks from the Western world was utmost critical and negative,” he said.

Relocation to ‘artificial island’

Another recent plan was made public by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who displayed a video titled “The Gaza Artificial Island Initiative” at an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday.

“Construction of an artificial island with a port and civilian infrastructure installations off the coast of Gaza will provide the Palestinians a humanitarian, economic and transportation gateway to the world, without endangering Israel’s security,” the video’s narrator said.

The presentation has drawn vehement criticism from Palestinians and others around the world.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, told reporters that Katz “could have made better use of his time to worry about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in the Middle East and the high death toll in Gaza.”

Displacement to Sinai

An Israeli Intelligence Ministry proposal revealed in late October included three options for post-war Gaza, including relocating its residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

The document said the expulsion would yield strategic benefits but needs support from the US and other allies of Israel, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

It also mentioned the possibility of initially relocating the population to temporary tent cities before establishing permanent communities in northern Sinai.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have strongly opposed the idea, while the US has also publicly and privately expressed opposition to the idea, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling it a “non-starter.”

US President Joe Biden and al-Sisi also emphasized in a discussion that Palestinians in Gaza should not be displaced to Egypt or any other nation.

With regards to the Sinai plan, Campbell said it was a “no-go,” both for the EU and the US, adding that “there can be no justification for this.”

Occupation through settlements

Israeli ministers have also voiced support for reestablishing Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Israel has already set up many settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are not recognized by international law and are therefore illegal.

Israel has not had any settlements in the Gaza Strip since 2005, but Foreign Minister Katz floated the idea in recent remarks.

He said it would be a “resolute message to our murderous enemies,” claiming that most of the Israeli public agrees that “only settlement brings security.”

The US factor

Campbell, the University of Vienna academic, said the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu might be pushed to act quickly on such controversial ideas because of the upcoming US elections.

There is a possibility that “Netanyahu is speculating the departure of Biden,” he said, mentioning the unusual US backlash to some of Israel’s moves despite the fact that it has wholly supported the brutal offensive on Gaza.

“Perhaps, former US President Donald Trump will come to power again,” he said, emphasizing that the possibility of Biden being on the way out might be a catalyst to Israel’s current actions.

“But you know, Trump can be unpredictable,” he added, saying that the businessman-turned-president might want to cozy up to “wealthy Arab states in the Gulf” when he comes to power again.

“So, Netanyahu might be thinking, ‘If I don’t get along with Biden, he won’t stay that long in the office, anyway.’ But Trump might not be so interested in engaging with the conflict in the Middle East and not be so in favor of sending his troops there,” Campbell concluded.