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"Israel just doubled down on prolonging its genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza," said one observer.
Palestine defenders on Tuesday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of swapping one "genocidal lunatic" for another after the right-wing leader fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replaced him with Israel Katz, who was serving as foreign minister.
"Israel just doubled down on prolonging its genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza," journalist and genocide scholar Samira Mohyeddin said on social media following Netanyahu's moves.
Netanyahu cited what he called a "crisis of trust" that "gradually deepened" as his reason for the changes, which came as Israel is waging war on Gaza and Lebanon while bracing for Iranian retaliation for recent Israeli attacks on the Middle East nation.
"In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and the minister of defense," Netanyahu said Tuesday, according toThe Jerusalem Post. "This trust has cracked between myself and the defense minister."
Katz, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, previously held several Cabinet posts, most recently as Israel's top diplomat. He was the minister of energy and infrastructure on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,100 people dead—at least some killed by fratricidal fire—and over 240 others kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
Two days later, Katz issued an order to "immediately cut off the water supply from Israel to Gaza."
"Electricity and fuel were cut off yesterday," he said. "What was will not be. All the civilian population in Gaza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave."
Katz's directive followed Gallant's
order for a "complete siege" of Gaza.
"There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed," Gallant said. "We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly."
These statements by Gallant and Katz are
cited in the International Court of Justice's January 26 provisional order for Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza. Israel—which is on trial for alleged genocide at the ICJ—has been accused of ignoring this and subsequent orders issued by the tribunal.
On Tuesday, Israeli state media reported that the Israel Defense Forces has completed its division of Gaza into two parts, and that "there is no intention to allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes."
Katz has also come under fire for declaring United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres "persona non grata in Israel" for criticizing the country's war on Gaza, which has left more than 155,000 Palestinians in Gaza dead, wounded, or missing and millions more starving and sick.
While serving as Israel's foreign minister, Katz was also condemned for threatening "severe consequences" for nations that officially recognize Palestinian statehood. Nearly 150 of the 193 United Nations member states recognize Palestine.
Katz also raised eyebrows in 2022 after he
made a thinly veiled threat to ethnically cleanse Arab citizens of Israel. Responding to Israeli Arab students who displayed the Palestinian flag on college campuses, Katz said "remember '48," a reference to 1948, when Israel declared its independence amid an ethnic cleansing campaign in which more than 750,000 Arabs were expelled from Palestine to make way for Jewish settlement.
Palestinians call this mass dispossession and expulsion the
Nakba, which means "catastrophe" in Arabic.
"Remember our independence war and your Nakba," Katz said. "Don't stretch the rope too much... If you don't calm down, we'll teach you a lesson that won't be forgotten."
"Ask your elders—your grandfathers, and grandmothers—and they will explain to you that in the end, the Jews awaken, they know to defend themselves and the idea of the Jewish state," he added.
In one of his final acts as foreign minister, Katz on Monday
initiated the process of annulling a 1967 agreement between Israel and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which Israel accuses of being "infiltrated" by Hamas. The U.N. strongly refutes Israel's accusation.
The Chile-led effort warned that Israel's decision to ban U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres would "undermine the United Nations' ability to carry out its mandate."
The U.S. was not among the more than 100 United Nations member states that signed a new letter of support for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres after Israel's foreign minister declared him "persona non grata" and barred him from entering the country.
The letter, spearheaded by Chile, said Israel's attack on Guterres would "undermine the United Nations' ability to carry out its mandate, which includes mediating conflicts and providing humanitarian support."
"In the Middle East, this could further delay an end to all hostilities and the establishment of a credible path towards the two-state solution, with the state of Palestine and Israel living side by side in peace and security," the letter continues. "We reaffirm our full support and confidence in the secretary-general and his work."
Signatories to the letter include France, China, Lebanon, Iran, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Brazil, and the African Union. Notably absent from the list were nations that have supplied Israel with arms during its yearlong assault on Gaza, including the U.S., Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
104 #UN Member States and the African Union issue letter expressing support for #UNSG @antonioguterres in response to #Israel declaring him persona non grata. @ChileONU initiated the effort which "urges all parties to engage constructively with the United Nations to seek a… pic.twitter.com/ixNKquyDV0
— Rami Ayari (@Raminho) October 11, 2024
Earlier this month, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared Guterres banned from entering Israel, falsely accusing the U.N. chief of failing to condemn Iran's ballistic missile barrage and the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. Katz reiterated his position on Sunday, writing on social media that "Guterres can continue seeking support from U.N. member states, but the decision will not change."
Guterres, a persistent advocate of a cease-fire agreement in the region and critic of the United States' failure to exert pressure on its ally, did not respond directly to the Israeli foreign minister's statement, but a spokesperson for the U.N. chief called it "one more attack on the United Nations staff that we've seen from the government of Israel."
The letter of support for Guterres came after Israeli forces repeatedly fired on U.N. peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon, injuring at least four soldiers. Guterres called the attacks "intolerable."
On Saturday, dozens of nations that contribute troops to the U.N. Interim Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) issued a joint statement condemning "recent attacks on the UNIFIL peacekeepers" and calling for an international investigation of the Israeli attack last week.
"We urge the parties to the conflict to respect UNIFIL's presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times, so that they can continue to implement its mandate and continue their work of mediation and support for peace and stability in Lebanon and the entire region," the statement added.
The U.S. does not contribute troops to UNIFIL. In a statement on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the Biden administration is "deeply concerned about reports that Israeli forces fired on positions and a tower used by UNIFIL
peacekeepers in Lebanon."
Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, wrote in response, "I don't believe anymore that the Biden administration is 'concerned' about any of this—the killing of thousands of civilians, the targeting of journalists and aid workers and peacekeepers."
"What actual evidence is there of this supposed concern?" he asked.
"If they get themselves out of this region, beyond a shadow of a doubt these conflicts, these wars, these clashes will come to a complete halt," said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that the United States and some European nations are responsible for the turmoil in the Middle East, and that the people of the region will enjoy peaceful coexistence only after the interlopers leave.
Khamenei—who has led the Islamist theocracy since 1989—spoke to a group of scientists and scholars in Tehran on Wednesday, one day after Iran retaliated for recent Israeli assassinations of Iranian, Hezbollah, and Hamas leaders by firing around 200 missiles into Israel in a largely ineffective attack.
"In our region, the root cause of problems, which leads to conflicts, wars, concerns and hostilities and such like, results from the presence of the same people who claim to advocate peace and tranquility in the region; that is America and some European countries," the 85-year-old Shia cleric said, according to Iranian state broadcaster Press TV.
"If they get themselves out of this region, beyond a shadow of a doubt these conflicts, these wars, these clashes will come to a complete halt, and the countries of the region will be able to govern themselves, govern their region, and live together in peace, blessing, and prosperity," Khamenei added.
British intervention in what was then the Persian Empire started in the 19th century. In the 20th century, Britain and the United States engineered a coup in Iran that restored and perpetuated a monarchy that ruled until overthrown and replaced by the current regime in the late 1970s. Since then, the U.S. has also supported efforts to overthrow the Iranian government, including by training anti-regime militants.
Britain opened up Palestine for Zionist colonization, but later ended Jewish immigration as Jews usurped the local Arab population and carried out many deadly terror attacks against both British occupiers and Palestinians. Following the establishment of the modern state of Israel—largely through ethnic cleansing of Arabs in the 1940s—the United States supported an expansionist Israel with hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic cover, even as it now wages a war on the Gaza Strip for which it is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Khamenei had two additional words of advice for U.S. and European meddlers: "Get lost."
The supreme leader's speech came amid fears of a wider Middle East war. While Iran and Hezbollah have shown restraint in responding to Israeli aggression, Israel has escalated its war, which has left more than 148,000 Palestinians dead, injured, or missing in Gaza, where millions more people have been forcibly displaced, starved, and sickened since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack. Israeli forces have also killed or wounded thousands more people in Lebanon, which Israeli ground troops invaded this week.
The United States, as well as the United Kingdom and other European nations, have supported Israel with billions of dollars worth of weapons and, in the case of the U.S., diplomatic cover including multiple vetoes of United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolutions.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday condemned Israel's assault on Gaza as "the most deadly and destructive military campaign in my years" leading the world body.
Guterres, who was addressing the Security Council, also said that he "strongly" condemned Tuesday's "massive missile attack by Iran on Israel," adding that such action does not "seem to support the cause of the Palestinian people or reduce their suffering."
Falsely claiming that Guterres failed to "mention Iran by name" or "unequivocally condemn" the Iranian attack, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday declared the U.N. leader "persona non grata" in Israel and banned him from entering the country.