A leaked document from Israel's Ministry of Intelligence recommends a plan that entails occupying Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the Gaza strip.
A brief summary of the plan:
- Recommends the occupation of Gaza and forceful eviction of the Palestinians from there.
Here, in phase 1, the population of Gaza must be "vacated to the south" and Israeli Air Force should bomb the northern parts. In phase 2, a ground attack should aim to occupy the entire strip from north to south, while also targeting the Hamas fighters in their underground bunkers. As Gaza is occupied by the Israeli forces, the civilians should be forced to evacuate through the "traffic lanes in the south" towards Rafah.
Recommends the establishment of new "tent cities" for the deported population in northern Sinai.
Recommends the creation of a "sterile" zone on the border.
A "sterile" zone of several kilometres should then be created between the borders of Egypt and Israel, inside Egypt, where no Palestinian from Gaza should be allowed.
- Recommends a propaganda campaign amongst the citizens of Gaza and the Arab world.
The forcefully displaced Gazan civilians should then be convinced, through a propaganda campaign, that Israel will never return the territories it has occupied, that Hamas is responsible for their political misery, and they should settle down wherever they can with the help of their "muslim brothers". Simultaneously, a propaganda campaign should also be launched in the Arab world, targetting Saudi Arabia, Morrocco, Libya and Tunisia using Islam to appeal to muslims to "help their Palestinian brothers", while also publicly berating Israel.
- Recommends a massive international diplomatic effort to fight criticisms of Genocide and to convince the world to accept the Israeli occupation of Gaza.
It suggests that the international community should be told that that the "massive migration" of population from an active combat zone is similar to what has happened in Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine and is necessary for future deterrent. It should be emphasised that the deportation of the population of Gaza is a necessary "humanitarian" move that would result in fewer civilian casualties of Palestinians and thus should be supported by the international community. It also recommends that the US should be roped in to put pressure on Egypt to accept the displaced Palestinian, and to convince western countries like Greece, Spain, Canada etc. to accept Palestinian refugees "evacuated" from Gaza. Further, the Unites States should be used to exert "pressure" on Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE to accept Israeli occupation of Gaza and / or accept the displaced Palestinian refugees.
Note: It is common for a government to create and consider many similar scenarios and plans. This is one such plan leaked from a right-wing group in Israel. Obviously the Israeli government hasn't publicly acknowledged that this is the plan they have chosen to implement. But the Israeli government has publicly acknowledged that this is an official document from a Government ministry.
Also, certain elements of this plan can be seen in action from what has transpired so far.
Palestinians were warned to evacuate northern Gaza:
Tens of thousands of Gazans from the northern parts of the strip have been fleeing southward since Friday morning in a state of panic, fear, and anger, after Israel ordered everyone in the north to evacuate within 24 hours ... The fear and anxiety were evident in the convoy of displaced people heading down Salah al-Din Street, which connects the Gaza Strip from north to south.
Bombing of Gaza has continued.
Former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has also publicly said that "tent cities" can be created for the refugees in Sinai:
... “We don’t tell Gazans to go to the beaches or drown themselves … No, God forbid … Go to the Sinai Desert. There is a huge expanse, almost endless space in the Sinai Desert just on the other side of Gaza.” ... “The idea is for them to leave over to the open areas where we and the international community will prepare infrastructure … tent cities, with food and with water, just like for the refugees of Syria,” Ayalon added.
Meanwhile, as per news reports the Egyptian President is under tremendous pressure from American, European and Israeli politicians to allow Palestinian refugees to Sinai. Egypt has also seen an influx of refugees trying to breach its border at Rafah (note that the plan recommends forcing Palestinian refugees to take the roads to Rafah).
Egypt finds itself under growing pressure from Europe and other international organizations to fulfill a more major role in helping the residents of the Gaza Strip, and even opening up the Rafah border crossing to potentially receive hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has himself dismissed out of hand the possibility of taking in Palestinian refugees. The Egyptian leader said, "Why can't Israel transfer the refugees to the Negev desert until the armed groups in Gaza like Hamas and Islamic Jihad are dealt with."
... The Egyptians are currently not even opening the Rafah crossing to foreign passport holders, despite reports of a deal being reached on the matter with the US administration ...
While Netanyahu and his Israeli-right allies may approve a plan advocating for the ethnic cleanising of Palestinians, there is currently a "unity government" in Israel. The opposition party members in it don't necessarily support the view of the Israeli religious fundamentalists that Palestinians are, and should be wiped out, "like the Amalekites". Thus, realistically, only some part of this plan may have been co-opted and Israel's "unity government" may very well only be working on the destruction of Hamas.
References:
- המסמך המלא של משרד המודיעין: כיבוש עזה וטרנספר כולל לתושביו (Google Translation: The complete document of the Ministry of Intelligence: Occupation of Gaza and total transfer to its residents).
- Unofficial English translation of the leaked paper by +972 magazine.
- Israel pressures Egypt to take in Palestinian refugees
- Egypt proposes Europe takes in Gaza refugees
- The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric
- Netanyahu speaks the language of genocide