Concerns about Israeli plans for Gaza and Palestinian displacement

[JadeHare]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/28/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-military-70-percent-gaza-intl

Doesn’t look like there will be much land left for the Palestinians.

And in other news, from the Guardian:

“Israel’s defence minister has said he is committed to the ethnic cleansing of Gaza through large-scale migration of Palestinians as part of Israel’s long-term plans for the territory.
Israel Katz said the government would implement a plan for large numbers of Palestinians to leave Gaza “at the right time and in the right manner”, in a statement on Wednesday marking the targeted killing of Mohammed Odeh, Hamas’s most recent military commander.
Pushing for mass departures violates Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for Gaza, which Israel signed last year. The second point of the plan states: “Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.”
Israel’s government has promoted the prospect of Gaza without Palestinians since Trump suggested early last year that hundreds of thousands of people should leave to “clean out” the strip for reconstruction.
Last year Israel set up a bureau for “voluntary emigration” and eased travel restrictions for Palestinians who wanted to make a one-way journey out of the strip.
The forced transfer of civilian populations is a war crime and a crime against humanity. Israeli officials, including Katz, use the term “voluntary migration” to describe their ”

Excerpt From
“Israel’s defence minister says large-scale Palestinian migration from Gaza will go ahead”
Emma Graham-Harrison
The Guardian
https://apple.news/AnnlpJqlOTdW5cUbA9NEe1Q
This material may be protected by copyright.

Every genocide is ‘exceptional’.

When can mass slaughter ever be unexceptional?

Because mass slaughter has been a feature all throughout human history. Each episode of mass slaughter has unique features of course but there is nothing exceptional about different groups of humans slaughtering each other.
Would you agree?

Yes I do completely understand that in the minds of many people it is a genocide. For me personally, I don't see that Israel is trying to erase Palestinians as a people and I call it a war at the moment. But I will definitely respect the rulings of the international court case because the court will have access to information & evidence that I won't ever see.

Arguing over the distinction between war and genocide ahead of the court case does lead to pointless arguments on this board because I don't think anyone is denying the horror of the war, the thousands of deaths, the fact that the Palestinian people have suffered hugely. We probably all agree on that and I also agree that the Israel government response to 7/10/23 has been disproportionate and that war crimes have been committed by some members of the IDF as well as by Hamas.

Of course people are entitled to their own opinions and their own words. That is true of people who call it a genocide and people who call it a war. Referring to it as a war is not trying to minimise the last 2 years of suffering. It's just that genocide is a very specific term and isn't normally applied until after a war has finished and all the evidence can be analysed. This takes a long time hence we do not expect to see a ruling on the international court case for years.

The reason the UK government don't call it a genocide, and they have been completely transparent on this, is because they are waiting for the findings from the international court case. If it is determined to be a genocide, the UK government will call it a genocide. In the meantime, they call it a war.

You are arguing that this genocide is not exceptional because it is one of many genocides in history.

I am saying that each of those genocidal episodes is exceptional.

I don’t believe in that this is humanity and we’re just cruel aren’t we? Ah well, it happens. Just the way we are.
edited to @dairydebris

Thankyou for this.

"I'm saying this genocide is exceptional primarily because of the broadcast."

I agree. This started because a pp stated that what Israel was doing in Gaza was the sickest thing humans have ever done to each other. That's what I was objecting to. I agree with you that this conflict/genocide is unique in its visibility.

I think the difference between the 2 statements is rather important though.

People are emotionally involved to a huge extent in this particular conflict because of its visibility rather than because it's an exceptionally awful conflict in terms of human death and suffering.

( this is not to minimize the awful suffering in this war. All wars involve awful suffering. )

Do you agree with that at all?

And-

If you could imagine for one moment that this war is a war and not a genocide, would you feel less strongly about western governments complicity?
As you know its the UK's legal position that this is not a genocide- so under that circumstance doesnt it our position with regards to Israel make more sense? If we do not believe its a genocide, can we truly be said to be supporting genocide if we genuinely don't believe its a genocide?

I mean if each and every genocide / war is exceptional then none are really... is it better to say unique?

The pp was saying specifically what Israel is doing to Gaza is the sickest thing any humans have ever done. Thats what I'm trying to rebut.

That isn't what I said.
Perhaps you didn't read, or fully understand, my response. I did tag you. Perhaps go back and reread it.

"Additionally, the Israeli government have kettled a civilian population. There is no escape from the murder, torture, death, disease, starvation. These people are trapped in a nightmare beyond anyone's wildest dreams. They cannot flee.

It's the sickest thing the human race has ever borne witness to."

Here you said what the Israeli government is doing is the sickest thing the human race has ever borne witness to.

I am pointing out that the human race has borne witness to many worse atrocities.

I did read it. Many times. I still know its factually incorrect.

And like I keep saying, Palestinians deserve better advocacy than this.

@Ellen2shoes sorry wanted to add I understand " I don’t believe in that this is humanity and we’re just cruel aren’t we? Ah well, it happens. Just the way we are. " because you feel its acceptance and that we can be better than this?

But lots of us are just like this. All through our history. Israelis are like this. Palestinians are like this. Iranians are like this. The British and Americans are like this. We need to look at it from a neutral pov and admit all humans are potentially violent then we can start to understand our species and be on guard for it.

Or is your position that only a select few nationalities of people are like this?

Ok so you insisting on are quoting a small part of the bigger picture I painted of the whole atrocity.

I have cut and pasted my original reponse to you as you don't seem to have taken it on board at all. I tagged you in this post but you did not respond. I have underlined the main point for you in case you miss it again:

I am tagging others that have had a similar response to my post as I wanted to be clear that I am in no way implicating Israeli civilians in this genocide. The Gazan genocide is the product of Netanyahu's government and the IDF.

It’s not the extremity of violence, or the number of civilians murdered I am referring to when I say this is the sickest thing the human race has ever done.
It is the complicity of the Western governments, mainly the UK and the USA in face of the overwhelming evidence. They are turning a blind eye, they are actively supporting by supplying arms. Amazon and Google are supplying AI support to the IDF in the form of Project Nimbus.

I wanted to point out the differences between the Gazan genocide and the other atrocities highlighted by posters:

The full extent of the massive scale of the Holocaust was not fully realised until camps were liberated in 1945. Yes, Russian and Western government knew that Hitler was carrying out atrocities against the Jews about a year after Hitler started doing it, but there was neither the on the ground journalist coverage nor the live streamed doctors testimonies that we have today. We certainly weren’t supporting Hitler or supplying arms or intelligence services. We were already in a war with Hitler, we were not supporting his genocide.

The Cambodian Genocide was carried out by a brutal dictator - not a democratically elected government back and supported by the UK and the USA.

The Rwandan Genocide was rapid. It took place in 100 days - appalling extreme violence. It was not televised as far as I am aware and there was very little time for Western nations to respond or intervene in any effective way.

Srebrenika was even more rapid - the genocide took 2 weeks. Yes Western governments could have done more to intervene or even prevent it happening. But they didn’t sit back and watch it happening over the course of 32 months like Western governments are doing now with the genocide in Gaza.

The Atlantic Slave Trade was of course the racist oppression and exploitation of people on an international scale - completely condemned now, rightly so, and a shameful episode in human history.

The difference now in Gaza is - we are openly allowing this to happen. With our eyes wide open and with all the testimonies, eye witnesses and actual live footage in real time. We KNOW babies and children have been one of the main targets of the IDF - English doctors that have been working there are telling us this.

The Israeli government are a democratically elected government with major support from Western governments. This is not the same as seeing genocide committed by unelected extremists or dictators.

The Israeli government have already prospected and started preparing the land inside Gaza for own real estate development. Land soaked in the blood of innocent children and civilians. The UK government is currently allowing Israeli real estate events to sell Palestinian land in London.

The West watching this happen and doing nothing, also supporting with arms and AI is truly the most criminal thing the human race has ever done.

That is not @UltraCynica ‘s point. I believe this was in reference to the genocide as it is happening in real time right now, streamed and backed by the West and justified by ordinary people - the whole picture. I don’t think that this was an attempt to compare detailed atrocities. There comes a point at which humanity has fled and we cannot begin to quantify such levels of depravity.

I don’t think we can separate the broadcasting from the genocide as it is this which has thrown into relief the external influences - the sickening part our governments are playing in perpetuating the slaughter and the cruel strains within social commentary around it.

Of course all humans have the potential to be violent, regardless of nationality. But we can only begin to understand and be on guard by learning from past mistakes.

History has shown us that prevarication from the West resulted in its failure to intervene to prevent genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia, yet here is our government saying let’s wait before we’re sure it’s a genocide in a few years time.

As I said it seems we’ve learnt nothing

Ok, my apologies, I did miss that post.

So, just picking one example, you believe Western equivocation over Israels war on Gaza, which has resulted in the death of 70k plus people, is more criminal than the Atlantic or Barbary Slave Trades? Where many European and NA countries acted together to steal millions of humans from their homes and families and sell them off as property on faraway lands? You think Israel's current war on Gaza is more criminal than that?

It’s not realistic to expect them to treat it as a genocide when that hasn’t been determined yet, sorry.

The court of public opinion is not enough for the UK government to treat it as a genocide. Keir Starmer has a very legal mind and does everything by the book. He won’t be around much longer of course but it’s not just him. The UK government is very driven by the law. As you would expect, really.

Yes because since the slave trade and the holocaust there has been a huge amount of work put into building international human rights laws to prevent these atrocities being committed again.

The fact that this is happening despite the lessons learned and the laws passed makes it the sickest atrocity the world has borne witness to.

The democratically elected Israeli government are breaking many, many of the human rights laws below and the world is allowing them to carry on - 33 months now! The United Nations are keeping a very detailed record, have declared a genocide and are constantly trying to press world governments to act to stop what is going on.

Here is a Google AI breakdown of the relevant laws . . . .

The transatlantic slave trade and the atrocities of the Holocaust prompted the global community to establish the modern framework of international human rights law to protect inherent human dignity and prevent mass atrocities. 1, 2, 3]
Following World War II, the United Nations spearheaded a sweeping wave of legally binding treaties, conventions, and declarations. The foundational laws passed since include: 1]
The International Bill of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948): Established by the UN General Assembly, it serves as the foundational text outlining fundamental rights and freedoms for all individuals. 1]
International Covenants (1966): Expanding the UDHR into binding international treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). 1, 2]
Preventing Atrocities and War Crimes
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948): Passed in the shadow of the Holocaust, this treaty criminalizes acts committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. 1, 2, 3]
The Geneva Conventions (1949): Four landmark treaties that established international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war, protecting civilians, prisoners of war, and the wounded. 1, 2]
Eliminating Discrimination and Slavery
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD, 1965): Commits state parties to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races. 1]
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979): Often described as an international bill of rights for women.
The UN Trafficking Protocol (2000): Supplements the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime to specifically prevent, suppress, and punish human trafficking, including contemporary forms of slavery. 1, 2, 3]
UN Slavery Recognition Resolution (2026): The UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution recognizing the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime in human history, formally classifying it alongside genocide and war crimes to pave the way for accountability and restorative justice. 1, 2]
You can review the full text of these binding treaties through the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) Database.

That poster was the one to start comparing atrocities by repeatedly stating its the sickest, most criminal thing ever. I agree that there is no need to compare atrocity as it is enough to say each atrocity is awful and has unique features.

The repeated saying its the worst ever when it's patently not bothers me because it exceptionalises Israel. Which is racist.

Israelis are not exceptionally awful. Even Netanyahu isnt exceptionally awful. Neither are Hamas. Theres plenty of their kind all over the world, all through history.

Honestly I don't really understand why everyone can't just say- yes, ok, this genocide isnt the worst ever, Israelis are not exceptional, we are all potentially the same, I just care more about this particular conflict because I've seen so much of it and its affected me emotionally. Why the need to continually exceptionalise it?

Ok. You're sticking by your position that this is the sickest most criminal conflict ever. I respect your right to do so. Have a good day.

Because many international human rights laws have been passed, Netanyahu (acting in full plain view of the entire international community and the United Nations) is breaking those laws.

That's the difference.

And don't you dare try to call me a racist. That is the lowest of the low.

In light of the sheer volume of International Human Rights Laws that have been broken purposefully and in full view of the International community, yes.

Again, trying to label people racist when they point out the atrocities of the Israeli government. Not Israeli civilians - the government.

No-one, I repeat NO-ONE on this thread has said that Israeli civilians are perpetrators of this genocide.

I wish Israeli citizens nothing but peace. They deserve so, so, so much better than what their criminal government is subjecting them to.

And Russia, and the USA and the Iranian government have rigidly stuck to International Law and the protection of human rights over the last few years. And you're definitely not exceptionalising Israel.
Ok. Like I said, I respect your right to believe as you do. Have a good day.

No they absolutely haven't stuck to international human rights law. The United Nations have a desperate job trying to keep track and hold governments to account. It's appalling how little they are respected.

But it is the Israeli government committing genocide right now, on an imprisoned population that is mainly under 18 years of age. There is no escape. 33 months, 33 months and counting! There is no end in sight and babies and children are being maimed and killed while the world watches in horror. Doctors, medics and journalists who are trying to assist are being murdered.

Western Governments are doing nothing.

It must stop.

It must stop now.

No it’s not racist to point out the atrocities of the Israel government.

It is racist to exceptionalise the war in Gaza and the Israel government and insist that the war in Gaza is the sickest most criminal conflict ever and Israel leaders the worst in history. Despite all the evidence to the contrary.