[News] The three narratives: Gaza as the last moral frontier against Israel’s policy of annihilation

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Comments <https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/>
The three narratives: Gaza as the last moral frontier against Israel’s
policy of annihilation
Ramzy Baroud <https://english.palinfo.com/authors/ramzy-baroud>

Friday 19-December-2025

Three dominant narratives contend for the future of Gaza and occupied
Palestine, yet only one is being translated into consequential action: the
Israeli narrative of domination and genocide. This singular, violent vision
is the only one backed by the brute force of policy and fact.

The first narrative belongs to the Trump administration, largely embraced
by the US Western allies. It rests on the self-serving claim that US
President Donald Trump personally solved the Middle East crisis, ushering
in a peace that has supposedly eluded the region for thousands of years.
Figures like Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and US-Israel Ambassador
Mike Huckabee are presented as architects of a new regional order.

This narrative is exclusive, domineering, and US-centric. It was
exemplified by Trump himself when he declared the Gaza conflict “over” and
presented a “peace plan” that strategically avoided any clear commitment to
Palestinian statehood. The entire vision is built on transactional
diplomacy and a dismissal of international legal consensus, positioning US
approval as the sole measure of legitimacy.

The second narrative is that of the Palestinians, supported by Arab nations
and much of the Global South. Here, the goal is Palestinian freedom and
rights grounded in international law and humanitarian principles.

This discourse is frequently shaped by statements from top Arab officials.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, for example, asserted last April
that the two-state solution is “the only way to achieve security and
stability in this region”, adding a warning: “If we disregard international
law, (…) this will open the way for the law of the jungle to prevail.” This
narrative continues to insist on international law as central to true
regional peace.

The third narrative is Israel’s—and it is the only one backed by concrete,
aggressive policy. This vision is written through sustained, systematic
violence against civilians, aggressive land seizures, deliberate home
demolitions, and explicit government declarations that a Palestinian state
will never be permitted. Its actors operate with chilling impunity, rapidly
creating irreversible facts on the ground. Crucially, the failure to
enforce accountability for this pervasive violence is the primary reason
Israel has been able to sustain its devastating genocide in Gaza for two
full years.

This narrative is not theoretical; it is articulated through the chilling
acts and legislative pushes of the highest-ranking government officials.

On 8 December, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared
in a Knesset session wearing a noose-shaped pin while pushing for a death
penalty bill targeting Palestinian prisoners. The minister stated openly
that the noose was “just one of the options” through which they would
implement the death penalty, listing “the option of hanging, the electric
chair, and (…) lethal injection”.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, meanwhile, announced an allocation of
$843 million to expand illegal settlements over the next five years, a
massive step toward formal annexation. This unprecedented funding is
specifically earmarked to relocate military bases, establish absorption
clusters of mobile homes, and create a dedicated land registry to formalize
Israeli governmental control over the occupied Palestinian territory.

This policy of territorial expansion is cemented by the ideological head of
government, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself made it
clear that “There will not be a Palestinian state. It’s very simple: it
will not be established,” calling its potential creation “an existential
threat to Israel.” This unequivocal rejection confirms that the official
Israeli government strategy is outright territorial expansion and the
permanent denial of Palestinian self-determination.

None of these Israeli officials shows the slightest interest in Trump’s
“peace plan” or in the Palestinian vision of statehood. Netanyahu’s core
objective is ensuring that international law is never implemented, that no
semblance of Palestinian sovereignty is established, and that Israel can
contravene the law at a time and manner of its choosing.

The fact is, these narratives cannot continue to coexist. Only real
accountability — through political, legal, and economic pressure — can halt
Israel’s advance toward continuing its genocidal campaign, destruction, and
punitive legislation. This must include the swift imposition of sanctions
on Israel and its top officials, comprehensive arms embargoes against Tel
Aviv to end ongoing wars, and full accountability at the International
Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ).

As long as the pro-Palestine narrative lacks the tools to enforce its
principles, Israel and its Western backers will see no reason to alter
course. States must replace symbolic gestures and prioritise aggressive,
proactive accountability measures. This means moving beyond simple verbal
condemnation and applying concrete legal and economic pressure.

Israel is now more isolated than ever, with public opinion rapidly
collapsing globally. This isolation must be leveraged by pro-Palestine
forces through coordinated, decisive diplomatic action, pushing for a
unified global front that demands the enforcement of international law and
holding Israel and its many war criminals accountable for their ongoing
crimes.

A lasting peace can only be built on the foundation of justice, not on the
military reality established by an aggressor that does not hesitate to
employ genocide in the service of its political designs. This is the
undeniable moral frontier: confronting and dismantling the impunity that
allows a state to pursue extermination as a political tool.

*-Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine
Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His forthcoming book, ‘Before the
Flood,’ will be published by Seven Stories Press. His other books include
‘Our Vision for Liberation’, ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The
Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center
for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).*
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