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South Africa took Israel to the United Nations International Court of Justice over genocide charges.

The crime of genocide consists not only in the extermination of a population but in depriving it of its land, denying it the right to have its state, and destroying its social fabric, and historical roots.

This is exactly what Israel is doing with the Palestinians.

The war waged by Israel in Gaza is motivated as a defence against the Hamas attack (whose plan had been known to Israeli political and military leaders for over a year), and it aims to erase the Gaza Territory. Along with the West Bank territory, it is part of the State of Palestine recognized by the United Nations General Assembly, and it is a UN member although it does not yet have the right to vote. The Israeli war not only exterminates the civilian population but makes the territory of Gaza uninhabitable.

The Israeli right-wing openly declared its aim is for the Palestinians to be “resettled out of Gaza“, that is, permanently deported from their land. While continuing its support to Israel’s war, and setting fire to the Middle East in which it is losing its predominant position, the United States is in favour of maintaining a territory that is formally Palestinian but de facto devoid of any real sovereignty.

The plan presented by the Israeli Defence Minister corresponds to this vision. It envisages that Israel maintains military control of Gaza’s borders in an even further isolation. At the same time, a multinational task force (certainly made up of the USA, NATO and the EU) supervises “the reconstruction and economic development of the territory“. 

Palestinian residents, chosen by Israel and the international task force, would manage civil affairs in the Gaza “enclave”.

There would be no role in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority, which manages parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israel would thus get what it wants: the definitive cancellation of the State of Palestine, decided by the United Nations 77 years ago under the formula of the two states. Against this background, South Africa’s decision to bring Israel before the United Nations International Court of Justice on charges of genocide is of primary importance.

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This article was originally published in Italian on Il Manifesto.

Manlio Dinucci, award winning author, geopolitical analyst and geographer, Pisa, Italy. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

Featured image: Families have been forced to moved repeatedly in Gaza. UN United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).