Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza has been raging for eight months, and its real objectives on the ground have become quite clear in that time. At first, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government claimed the aim was to rescue hostages, eradicate the threat of Hamas and prevent the recurrence of any future operations along the lines of the 7 October attacks.
However, the extent of the unprecedented onslaught reveals that Tel Aviv saw an opportunity to do much more. In addition to the sheer scale of the destruction, its true intentions have been revealed through the warfare strategies employed on the ground, the targets chosen, the type of weapons used, and the broader political, security, social, and economic impacts inflicted.
That range of factors is more revealing than Israeli officials' numerous and conflicting statements. Israel has unleashed its full military power to inflict maximum casualties on the Palestinians, obliterate their infrastructure, and demolish their homes. They have deprived the Palestinians of essential resources, including water, electricity, food, fuel, medicine, and shelter. The objective is clear: to render Gaza uninhabitable and force its 2 million inhabitants to leave. Estimates suggest that around 200,000 Gazans have fled.
Throughout, Palestinian armed groups continued to fight and launch attacks, and Israel was unable to secure the release of many of its hostages. Whatever else, the undeniable reality is that the fundamentals of life in Gaza have been decimated. There is nothing for them to return to once the war ends.
All of this speaks to Israel's real intention: To use the war in Gaza to intimidate and subjugate the Palestinians—imposing its will from the river to the sea—and ultimately eradicating the idea of a Palestinian state, which it perceives as a threat.
Netanyahu has obsessed over this goal since his first stint as Israeli prime minister between 1996 and 1999, which came after Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. He relentlessly pursued the same agenda during his second term, between 2009 and 2021, during which he entrenched the idea of Israel as a Jewish state in its set of basic laws, redrawn in 2018. Now, in his third term since 2022, he has continued to steer Israel toward becoming a state that derives its identity from religion rather than the liberal and democratic values it used to profess, at least for its Jewish inhabitants.
Read more: Benjamin Netanyahu: Israeli dictator dressed in democrat’s clothing
True motives exposed
The world is now seeing Netanyahu’s real position on a Palestinian state. As the international community looks to Gaza's 'day after', the notion itself is ultimately misleading. Even if Israel were to fully or partially withdraw from Gaza, what would be left for the Palestinians?
Talks focus on new governance without addressing the dire conditions Palestinians in Gaza face—and will continue to face for a very long time. There will be scarce shelter and few employment opportunities. Even the most basic necessities of life will be hard to meet, and the Palestinians who remain will have to be hugely dependent on foreign aid.
Netanyahu's idea for the 'day after' in Gaza was laid out by Israeli military spokesman Udi Dekel in remarks made in March at the Israeli National Security Research Institute and goes as follows:
1. Israel will maintain unrestricted operational freedom throughout Gaza indefinitely to prevent the resurgence of terrorism and any threats emanating from the region.
2. Israel will indefinitely maintain a security buffer zone inside Gaza along its 'borders' with Israel.
