Fight against Hamas

Israeli army denies accusations of expulsion

Displaced people from the town of Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip(Bild: APA/AFP/Omar AL-QATTAA)

According to Palestinian reports, at least 73 people were killed in a devastating Israeli attack on the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. Israel's army described the number of victims as "exaggerated".

The bombardment targeted a multi-storey building, but other houses were also hit, according to the government in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the radical Islamic group Hamas. While it spoke of a "horrific massacre in Beit Lahiya", the Israeli military emphasized that the information did not correspond to the information available to the Israeli military. However, the reports were still being investigated.

Even after the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israel's fight against Hamas continues.(Bild: APA/AFP/Israeli Army)

According to residents and doctors, the Israeli army recently intensified its siege of the Jabalia refugee camp, with civilians from the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya being ordered to evacuate. According to the army, the aim was to separate civilians from Hamas fighters. Allegations that the actions were aimed at displacement were denied.

Since the beginning of the military campaign to overthrow Hamas a year ago, Israel has repeatedly been accused of aiming to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip. Although this is officially denied, leading government politicians have made statements in this direction. Among other things, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regretted in August that there is food aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and claimed that starving the population there would be morally justified.

Minister dreams of "Greater Israel"
In the past, Smotrich himself had denied the existence of the Palestinian people. At the beginning of the year, he told an event in Paris: "There is no such thing as Palestinians, because there is no such thing as a Palestinian people." He presented a "Greater Israel" map that also included the West Bank and Jordan.

Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir takes a similar view and calls for the resettlement of the Gaza Strip. "The resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Gazans" would allow the Israeli residents of the belt around the Gaza Strip to "return home and live in safety", argued the security minister from the ultra-right Otzma Yehudit party at the beginning of the year.