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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Climbing down the Gaza Tree - Israel’s Gap between Words and Actions is Growing</h1>January 2, 2024</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Israel_Finance_PC.png" alt="" title="Israel_Finance_PC" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="417" height="280" style="margin-right: 25px;">
The gap between Israel's words and actions is growing. (Image: Palestine Chronicle)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-editors" title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Editors">Palestine Chronicle Editors</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>These are some of the lofty goals put forth by top Israeli
government officials since the start of the war, none of which has been
implemented.</span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>On Monday, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas issued a
statement saying that “the statements of the occupation leaders about
displacing our people from Gaza are daydreams that will be thwarted by
our people with their steadfastness and valiant resistance.”</span></p>
<p><span>It is normal, in times of war, that the warring parties make
all sorts of hyped claims. Both sides vow decisive victory. Both sides
often claim that they are vanquishing the enemy. Both sides allege that,
at the end, they would be the only party still standing in the
battlefield. </span></p>
<p><span>So, for Hamas to make such a claim could easily be dismissed as part and parcel of the war rhetoric.</span></p>
<p><span>If we look at the evidence, however, Israel’s ‘daydreaming’ may not seem an exaggeration. </span></p>
<p><span>On December 21, the Israeli military decided to pull out some
of its most experienced and supposedly battle-hardened elite units,
namely the Golani Brigades. </span></p>
<p><span>The moment the soldiers escaped the range of the Yassin-105 and
entered Israel, they seemed intoxicated with the knowledge that they
had escaped the hell of the Gaza battle. They celebrated, not victory,
but remaining alive. </span></p>
<p><span>On Sunday, December 31, the Israeli military decided to pull
out five brigades, out of nearly 17 brigades operating inside the Gaza
Strip.</span></p>
<p><span>Israeli media reported that more such withdrawals should be
expected in coming days. In other words, whatever major plans Israel had
for Gaza are unlikely to be implemented. </span></p>
<p><span>Yet, on Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-minister-repeats-call-palestinians-leave-gaza-2023-12-31/#:~:text=%22What%20needs%20to%20be%20done,after%20will%20be%20totally%20different.%22"><span>repeated</span></a><span> the same line that “What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration”.</span></p>
<p><span>Hamas’ comment on Israel’s ‘daydreaming’ was a response to that
very statement. Considering the evidence, the Palestinian Resistance
group’s statement is not incorrect. </span></p>
<p><span>These are some of the lofty goals put forth by top Israeli
government officials since the start of the war, none of which has been
implemented.</span></p>
<p><b>Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu</b></p>
<p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-says-no-alternative-to-victory-in-gaza-warns-hezbollah-not-to-enter-war/"><b>November 11, 2023</b></a></p>
<p><span>“There is no alternative to victory. We will defeat Hamas and bring back our captives.”</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-netanyahu-says-military-pressure-needed-free-hostages-2023-12-25/"><b>December 25, 2023</b></a></p>
<p><span>“We wouldn’t have succeeded up until now to release more than
100 hostages without military pressure,” Netanyahu said during a speech
in Israel’s parliament. “And we won’t succeed at releasing all the
hostages without military pressure.”</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/egyptian-lawmaker-pans-netanyahus-postwar-gaza-ideas-as-violation-of-peace-treaty/#:~:text=Netanyahu%20on%20Saturday%20night%20declared,demilitarized%20when%20the%20fighting%20ends."><b>December 30, 2023</b></a></p>
<p><span>The Philadelphi Route (between Rafah and Egypt) “has to be in our hands”.</span></p>
<p><b>Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant</b></p>
<p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/gallant-says-after-hamas-vanquished-israel-will-seek-new-security-regime-in-gaza/"><b>October 20, 2023</b></a></p>
<p><span>We must destroy Hamas and establish a new ‘security reality’ in the Gaza Strip.</span></p>
<p><b>Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich</b></p>
<p><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-31/ty-article/100-200-000-not-two-million-israels-finance-minister-envisions-depopulated-gaza/0000018c-bfe8-d6c4-ab8d-fffc0b910000"><b>December 31, 2023</b></a></p>
<p><span>“If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not two
million, the whole discourse about the day after will be different,”
Smotrich told Israeli army radio.</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>“In order to control the territory militarily over time, you must also have civilian presence there.”</span></p></blockquote>
<p><b>Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir</b></p>
<p><a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2434796/middle-east"><b>January 1, 2024</b></a></p>
<p><span>“We must promote a solution to encourage the emigration of
Gaza’s residents.” Ben Gvir argued that the departure of Palestinians
and re-establishment of Israeli settlements “is a correct, just, moral
and humane solution.”</span></p>
<p><span>“This is an opportunity to develop a project to encourage
Gaza’s residents to emigrate to countries around the world,” he told a
meeting of his ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, party. </span></p>
<p><span>Yet, on Sunday, the Israeli army decided to carry out a partial
withdrawal from Gaza, leaving behind 12 army brigades, with no clear
objectives, let alone a fighting spirit. </span></p>
<p><span>The facts above, in the context of the retreat underway,
indicate that none of the lofty goals set forth by the Israeli
government have been achieved. </span></p>
<p><span>This truth becomes even more evident following the massive
volley of medium and long-range rockets fired by the Palestinian
Resistance toward Israeli targets deep inside the country immediately as
the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2024. </span></p>
<p><span>The war is not over, and the Israeli government is itself
unclear on what it believes the future course of action should be. What
is clear, however, is that Tel Aviv is trying to hurriedly get down from
a very high tree it climbed on October 7.</span></p>
<p><em>(The Palestine Chronicle)</em></p>
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