On Friday, August 8, the Israeli security cabinet decided to evacuate the city of Gaza – meaning more than 1,000,000 people who had already been displaced – aiming to complete the operation by October 7. The same cabinet also approved "taking control" of the Gaza Strip. This term was chosen instead of "occupation" because it carries no legal implications; After all, an occupation regime grants rights to the occupied population and specifically protects them against forced displacement.
The decision reveals the ideological consistency of the Israeli prime minister. Often depicted as motivated solely by the desire to stay in office and to avoid his court cases – essentially as a master opportunist – Benjamin Netanyahu has, in reality, consistently pursued a structured political project: the destruction of the Palestinian national project in favor of a "Greater Israel."
Aligned with the views of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Netanyahu has always rejected the idea of a Palestinian state. To oppose the Oslo Accords, he participated in vehement protests shortly before the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and has always refused to meet with Mahmoud Abbas. In both his writings and speeches, he asserts that Palestinians do not exist − only "Arabs" − thus denying the historical existence of these people.
Netanyahu's objective now appears clear: To make Gaza ungovernable and unlivable, to empty the territory of its population and to establish Jewish settlements there, reducing Palestinians to a minority living under Israeli domination. To those who still doubt, let us remember his advice in 2015 regarding the Iranian nuclear program: "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, then what is it? (...) It's a duck." In this case, it is indeed a project of annexation and forced displacement of Palestinians, whether in Gaza or in the occupied territories.
Internal consequences across Israel
In Gaza, however, the occupation will be even harsher than in the West Bank. The scenario being considered is one of strict military control, with areas forbidden to Palestinians, the sorting of the population through checkpoints aided by artificial intelligence and an encouragement to leave. A report by the Boston Consulting Group even mentions the possibility of transferring 25% of Gazans to Ethiopia or Somalia. At the government level, mechanisms to implement this "departure" policy have already been created.
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