Reuters is reporting: “UN food agency pauses deliveries to the north of Gaza.” USA Today reports: “The head of the World Health Organization called Gaza a ‘death zone’ Wednesday, lamenting health and living conditions that are ‘inhumane’ and only getting worse.” Meanwhile, at the International Court of Justice, scores of countries are demanding an end to Israel’s 56-year occupation of Palestinian land, with the U.S. virtually alone in defending Israel’s actions (this case is seperate from South Africa’s invoking the Genocide Convention at the ICJ). Thursday morning, China, Ireland, Japan and Jordan were among the countries that spoke, see videos.
RICHARD SILVERSTEIN, richards1052@gmail.com, @richards1052
Silverstein writes at Tikun Olam and recently wrote the piece “Israel Unloads Gaza Ethnic-Cleansing on U.S., Saudi Arabia and Egypt: U.S. and Saudis would fund refugee camps while Egypt runs them.”
He writes: “There appear to be two separate plans: Egypt’s, which may or may not have been devised with U.S. and Israeli consultation. I broke the story that Egypt was clearing a massive empty space in Egypt surrounded by 20 feet walls and locked gates. The Washington Post confirmed my report the day after I published. …
“And who would care for these 1.5-million Rafah refugees? Who would administer the camps? Not Israel of course. Not its problem. … They palm that problem off on the Egyptians, who controlled Gaza until 1967.”
The Wall Street Journal recently reported in “Israel Proposes Rafah Evacuation Despite U.S. Concerns” that: “The Israeli evacuation proposal includes establishing 15 campsites of around 25,000 tents each across the southwestern part of the Gaza Strip, Egyptian officials said. Egypt would be in charge of setting up the camps and field hospitals, the officials said.”
Silverstein continued: “Given the close security relationship between Israel and Egypt, the latter would certainly permit Israeli troops to enter the camps at will. Isn’t that convenient? Prest-0 change-o, Israel solves its Gaza problem. It gets to destroy Hamas (and Gaza along with it), unloads 80 percent of Gaza’s population on others, and Bibi Netanyahu gets to run a victory lap in Jerusalem. …
The Barghouti factor
“There is one course events could take that would solve everyone’s problem, including the Palestinians. In the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, it could free Marwan Barghouti, the most charismatic leader in Palestine. All factions respect him and would join in welcoming him as the leader of a new country. That includes Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
“Barghouti has already accepted a two-state solution. Hamas itself has also endorsed two-states in a 2021 reconciliation agreement with Fatah, which Biden and Netanyahu rejected.
“This is the best and only way to solve the conflict. If Biden was smart he would push the Israelis hard on this. Even demand it. But in doing so, both he and the Israelis know that it will only work if the world creates a Palestinian state.”
