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Shock, Awe, and Ethnic Cleansing: Trump's Policy in Gaza
The U.S. president's "suggestion" that Palestinians be moved to Egypt and Jordan seems to be nothing less than a blessing for a new Nakba.
Feb 03, 2025
President Donald Trump’s “shock and awe” assault on virtually every major institution in Washington has been, to a degree, successful. There’s a perverse logic behind his radical cabinet appointments, widespread firings and threats to the federal workforce, and his seemingly scattershot Executive Orders that upset apple-carts up and down the street. Like President George W. Bush’s 2003 “shock and awe” blitz of Baghdad at the start of the Iraq war, Trump’s intent is an overwhelming show of power, hitting on multiple fronts in order to disorient and demoralize his opponents.
While most of Trump’s actions have been focused on the domestic front, and have served their purposes, he upped the ante by throwing in a few foreign policy zingers for good measure. He threatened to take back the Panama Canal, to force Denmark to sell him Greenland, and to annex Canada into the US. As reactions from Panama, Denmark, and Canada have made clear, none of Trump's foreign policy “tests” and challenges have had the same impact or success as his bullying forays into domestic policy.
In yet another quixotic foreign policy venture, Trump threw a bombshell into the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He proposed that before the reconstruction of Gaza could begin it would be necessary to “clean out Gaza.” It’s been reported that in separate conversations with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egyptian President Sisi, Trump pressed both to accept the bulk of Palestinians from Gaza, with Albania and Indonesia being tapped as backups to resettle others.
If Trump’s goal was to shake things up and provoke a reaction, it flopped. None of the countries mentioned have agreed to participate in this bizarre scheme. And beyond a simple rejection, Palestinians have pretty much ignored Trump’s bait, largely owing to their preoccupation with the emotional return to “their rubble” in Gaza’s north and with fighting off an increasingly aggressive occupation in the West Bank.
Let’s be clear: If phase one of this ceasefire holds and moves on to phases two and three, when reconstruction is supposed to begin, some serious issues must be confronted. For example, there are two million homeless Palestinians and hundreds of thousands of demolished homes and buildings. It is estimated that it will take at least two or three years to remove or repurpose the rubble, and decades to build sufficient housing to accommodate those whose homes have been destroyed.
If one didn’t know Trump, or his allies in Israel, one might think he was making a compassionate appeal to neighbors to shelter the homeless Palestinians until Gaza was ready to receive them. But that assumption doesn’t pass the smell test for several reasons. Trump hasn’t given any indication that he is moved by the suffering of the Palestinians. What he finds more appealing are the prospects of building a resort on Gaza’s shores. At the same time, Netanyahu’s coalition has made it clear that they want to evict the Palestinians from Gaza.
Given this, Trump’s “suggestion” that Palestinians be moved to Egypt and Jordan seems to be more like providing his blessing for a new Nakba. The first Nakba of 1948 saw the forced eviction of 700,000 Palestinians from their homes followed by Israel’s demolition of over 420 Palestinian villages to ensure that they couldn’t return. This second Nakba would reverse the process, with Israel first demolishing entire residential areas in Gaza and then “transferring” 2,000,000 Palestinians out of their country.
If we’ve learned anything in dealing with Netanyahu, his coalition and their enablers in Washington, it’s best never to assume that they won’t do the worst thing possible. Trump may be attempting to transfer his “shock and awe” to the Middle East or innocently floating an idea of transfer to facilitate reconstruction. But more likely he is floating a “trial balloon” for his friend Netanyahu, to test the region’s acceptance of a genocidal transfer plan to “solve” the Palestinian problem.
As I noted, with so much demanding their attention, neither Palestinians nor their supporters across the Arab World have reacted in full fury to Trump’s “suggestion.” Nor has a plan been proposed to address how to clear the rubble and rebuild with two million Palestinians under foot.
For any such relocation and reconstruction plan to be accepted, at least two conditions must be met. Israel must fully withdraw from Gaza, surrendering control of access and egress from the territory. This precondition is imperative so that Palestinians can feel confident that if they leave Gaza, they are guaranteed the right to return. Another problem to be addressed is that some Palestinians returning from the south to the north are having difficulty identifying where their homes once stood. To avoid confusion or conflict, if municipal records no longer exist, an effort must be made to map Gaza, so that Palestinians can establish the location of their residence or business.
Without ironclad assurances of return and a plan to facilitate return to specific locations, efforts at relocation and reconstruction instead of solving a problem will only create deeper ones.
For over a century, Palestinians have been pawns played by Western powers and the Zionist movement. They have been dismembered, dispossessed, and dispersed among the nations. Through it all, their national identity and attachment to their lands has only become stronger. Because of this, they’ve remained a persistent thorn in the side of those who oppress them. It’s time for the US to recognize this reality and instead of compounding Palestinian suffering, we should develop a humane plan to end Israel’s veto over ending the occupation and implementing long-denied Palestinian rights.
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Israeli Forces Kill at Least 24 People Trying to Go Home in Southern Lebanon
The killings came as Israel and Lebanon reportedly agreed to extend the deadline for Israeli forces to leave the country until mid-February.
Jan 27, 2025
Israeli forces killed at least 24 Lebanese and injured more than 130 others as they tried to return to their homes in occupied southern Lebanon, the country's Ministry of Public Health said Monday.
The ministry said in a statement that the dead include six women. One Lebanese soldier was also reportedly killed. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops opened fire on residents desperate to go home after the 60-day deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon expired.
The Washington Postreported Monday that an IDF spokesperson claimed that Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah sent "agitators" into the southern part of the country in a bid to inflame tensions. No evidence was provided to support the claim.
IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee
warned Lebanese on Sunday that, while Israeli forces "do not intend to target you... at this stage you are prohibited from returning to your homes... until further notice," and that "anyone who moves south" of an Israeli-designated line along the Litani River "puts themselves at risk." Scores of villages are located south of the IDF "red line."
The White House
said Sunday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to an extension of the deadline for Israel's withdrawal from the country, with IDF troops now having until February 18 to leave. Lebanese and international media reported several Israeli cease-fire violations since the extension was announced.
Last month, Amnesty Internationalcalled for a war crimes investigation into IDF airstrikes in Lebanon, as well as a suspension of arms transfers to Israel over its attacks on the country, and on Gaza and the illegally occupied West Bank in Palestine.
Israeli forces—which had been attacking Lebanon since October 2023, when Hezbollah began launching rockets and other projectiles at targets in northern Israel in solidarity with Gaza—initiated a major bombing campaign and invasion of the northern neighbor last October 1 that killed more than 4,000 people, wounded over 16,000 others, and forcibly displaced more than 1.2 million more, according to Lebanese officials.
Meanwhile in Gaza, where a fragile cease-fire took effect earlier this month, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israel's 15-month war on the coastal enclave—which local officials say has left around 170,000 people dead, maimed, or missing—are in the process of returning home to scenes of utter destruction.
Several Arab leaders including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah, and officials in Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's government on Sunday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Jordan and Egypt to take "about a million-and-a-half" Palestinian refugees from Gaza after "we just clean out that whole thing," with some observers accusing the Republican of endorsing ethnic cleansing.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also called out Trump, saying Monday: "There is a name for this—ethnic cleansing—and it's a war crime. This outrageous idea should be condemned by every American."
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Hezbollah's Nasrallah Says Israel Crossed 'All Red Lines' With Remote Bombings
The Hezbollah leader stressed that "the only way" to peace "is by stopping the aggression in Gaza and the West Bank" and "not escalation" or "all-out war."
Sep 19, 2024
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday accused Israel of having "violated all red lines" by killing at least 37 people and injuring thousands more in surprise bombings of pagers, walkie-talkies, and other devices across Lebanon, calling the audacious attack "an act of war" that will not go unpunished.
In a televised speech during which Israeli warplanes flew over the Lebanese capital of Beirut, Nasrallah condemned the attack as "a major terrorist operation, an act of genocide, and a massacre," adding that it "amounts to a declaration of war."
"The enemy used a civilian method used by a large segment of society and did so again on Wednesday by blowing up wireless devices without caring who was carrying them," the chief of the Iran-backed political and paramilitary group said.
Numerous figures including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres decried the weaponization of civilian objects.
"There is no doubt that we have been exposed to a major security and humanitarian blow, unprecedented in the history of the resistance in Lebanon," Nasrallah conceded.
⚡️⭕️[ENGLISH] Hezbollah secretary general Sayed Hassan Nasrallah speech commenting on Israel's Cyber Terror Operation live stream https://t.co/011jOGgYpp
— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) September 19, 2024
Lebanon's Ministry of Health said that in addition to killing at least 37 people—including two children, ages 9 and 11—the bombings, which occurred in two waves on Tuesday and Wednesday, wounded around 3,500 others, 287 of them critically.
While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, media reports cited Israeli and U.S. officials who attributed the bombings to Israeli military and intelligence operatives.
Nasrallah said that Hezbollah has received "messages through official and unofficial channels saying that the aim of the strike was to stop supporting Gaza."
"Our answer is, in the name of the martyrs and the wounded, that the Lebanon front will not stop until the aggression against Gaza stops, regardless of the sacrifices," he added.
Hezbollah—whose arsenal and military capabilities dwarf those of the Lebanese armed forces or Hamas—launched limited but destructive attacks on northern Israel the day after the October 7 assault on Israel led by its Palestinian ally Hamas. Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have traded cross-border fire that has killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands more.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel's war—which has killed or wounded more than 146,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case—has entered a "new phase" focused on Lebanon.
"The center of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of forces and resources," said Gallant, who along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and multiple Hamas leaders faces the prospect of a possible International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
The Israeli remote attack has fueled fears of a wider war and prompted warnings against further escalation.
On Wednesday, Jordan's Foreign Ministry accused Israel of bringing the region to the "brink of war," which would likely involve Iran, whose leaders have yet to publicly retaliate for the July assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel also assassinated Hamas deputy political chief Saleh Arouri in a drone strike in Beirut earlier this year.
Some critics contended that Israel is seeking a wider war. Ronen Bergman, an Israeli expert on targeted assassinations, told Britain's Channel 4 News Wednesday that if his country is behind the Lebanon operation, it is "trying to signal to Hezbollah" that it "is ready for escalation."
Addressing the prospect of a regional war, Nasrallah said during his speech that "the only way" to peace "is by stopping the aggression in Gaza and the West Bank."
"Not escalation," he added. "Not all-out war."
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