He is a highly respected ex-general in Israel. Giora Eiland has more than 30 years of service in the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF. He has been responsible for planning in the defense and led the powerful National Security Council in Israel for several years. Now he has made international headlines with his suggestions about what he thinks his country should do in Gaza. – Israel must create a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that forces hundreds of thousands to seek refuge in Egypt. A serious epidemic will bring victory closer, writes the ex-general in a column in the Israeli online newspaper Ynet. During Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 1,139 people were killed, according to Israeli authorities. Among them were 36 children. Since then, more than 21,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks, according to health authorities in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas. Over 8,000 of them are children. Giora Eiland has more than 30 years of service in the Israeli Defense Forces. Recently, he has made several blatant claims about the war in the Middle East. Photo: Ksenia Novikova Want to hit civilians Israeli forces should not differentiate between Hamas fighters and civilians – not even women, he writes in a column published in Israel’s largest newspaper, Yediot Ahronot: – Who are the “poor” women in Gaza? They are mothers, sisters and wives of Hamas killers. news meets the military strategist at the office in Tel Aviv. He is retired, and has no formal connection to the Israeli Defense Forces. The decorated general speaks as an independent military expert. news’s Yama Wolasmal interviews former IDF general Giora Eiland in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: Ksenia Novikova – How can a man who has been in the top management, in what Israel describes as the world’s most moral army, say such things? – What I am trying to say is that the only effective pressure, and the only thing that matters to the Hamas leadership, is the people of Gaza. If they get very frustrated, very worried, very angry and hungry, then they will actually fight and rebel against Hamas. – But it will lead to terrible civilian suffering for Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants? – Not necessarily. It will lead to a real frustration in Gaza that will mobilize the people to revolt against Hamas. They will not do that without suffering. More common with extreme actions Giora Eiland is not alone in putting forward proposals that create reactions. After the terrorist attack on 7 October, many leading Israelis, both in the government and in civil society, have advocated the same type of measures. President Isaac Herzog has said that civilians in Gaza are legitimate targets because they have not rebelled against Hamas. The Israeli Ministry of Intelligence has made theoretical plans on how Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants can be moved to the Sinai desert in Egypt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has tried to persuade EU countries to get Egypt to agree to such a plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Abir Sultan / AP Dahlia Scheindlin, one of Israel’s foremost political experts, says that it has become more appropriate to say things that before the war were perceived as unacceptable. – I feel that more and more social debaters in Israel are pushing the boundaries of what is accepted. People like Eiland are highly recognized. He is not an extremist. His attitudes have become more “mainstream” after the war, says Scheindlin. See the full interview at the beginning of the issue. Stands for Israel’s survival The ex-general says that the Hamas movement must be crushed at all costs because they pose an existential threat to Israel. He believes that military and humanitarian pressure is the only way to bring home the approximately 130 Israeli citizens who are still in Hamas captivity. – Israel is fighting for its survival. Right now we are fighting on six different fronts with enemies in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Hamas, and all their supporters must be taken. Eiland believes that civilians in Gaza are partially complicit in the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October. Therefore, they must accept the consequences of having taken part in and celebrated the killing of Israelis, believes the retired general. – Hundreds, perhaps thousands of so-called civilians stormed into Israel together with Hamas to rape, rob and kill Israelis on October 7. Then the people of Gaza must understand that there are far-reaching consequences for supporting such a regime. There were several reports of sexual violence and rape during the terrorist attack. The UN has said it will investigate the allegations. There is no evidence that news has seen that Palestinian civilians participated in the terrorist attack. The picture shows the former IDF general at work after a press conference in Tel Aviv back in 2010. Photo: Imago / Alamy Stock Photo “Pure evil” Eiland believes Israel should stop the supplies of food, emergency aid, water and fuel into Gaza in order to it’s unlivable there. – We are the only country in the world that has supplied the enemy with what they need to survive. We have the right to set up a blockade around the country we are at war with. If we do it together with military pressure, it can be much more effective. Eiland’s plans have created strong reactions in social media, especially in Arab countries. In Israel, renowned commentators such as Gideon Levy in the newspaper Haaretz have described his plans as “pure evil”. Eiland rejects the criticism. – I am not saying this because I want to punish Gaza’s civilians. This is not evil for evil’s sake. But the end sanctifies the means in this case, writes Eiland in one of his chronicles. The 71-year-old says that he has received almost exclusively positive feedback on the chronicles he has written. – I would say that 80 percent of those who have contacted me in Israel have supported my proposals. Giora Eiland is one of the most respected ex-generals in Israel. Here he meets former US President George Bush. Photo: Ksenia Novikova Defying criticism Eiland believes Israel must not care about the international reactions, and do everything to win the war on the Gaza Strip. – How can a Jew, who probably has family who experienced the Holocaust nightmare, propose a plan that many will interpret as a call for genocide, collective punishment and the expulsion of millions of Palestinians from Gaza? – Listen. My entire family on my father’s side was killed by the Nazis in Auschwitz. So I know exactly what happened there. – Most Israelis understand that Israel is fighting an existential war. If we fail, there will be no Israel. If the price we have to pay for survival is temporary misery in Gaza, then this is more than justified. Most Israelis agree with me on that.
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Israeli ex-general wants to starve and expel Gaza’s civilians – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
