Israel’s Plan to Induce Hell in Gaza

By Tiernan Cannon | March 7, 2025 | 11:27am

Photo by IDF Spokesperson's Unit

Palestine Israel

The ceasefire in Gaza, while representing a welcome pause in the mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians, was always precisely that: a pause. Even that is a bit of a stretch, given that Israel never actually stopped killing people in Gaza—the Palestinian death count was just limited to a more “acceptable” level, barely worthy of acknowledgement in Western media. But, the murder has been less ferocious since the deal came into effect in January, and that, perhaps, is as good as it gets in a world gone twisted.

During the first phase of the ceasefire, prisoners were released from both sides and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians were afforded the opportunity to return home. But what were they returning to? Thanks to Israel and the United States, Gaza is a land of rubble filled with rotting human bodies now. Most people’s homes have been destroyed, as have their stores, schools, hospitals and mosques. What little water is available is likely to be dirty. Pools of raw sewage are everywhere. Food and medicine are scarce. Disease, consequently, is rampant, meaning the most vulnerable people there—including the babies—are liable to die anyway, even if the bombs aren’t presently falling.

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The situation is terrible, but Israel plans to make it worse. Phase one of the ceasefire deal expired on March 1, and there is no real indication that the second phase will begin any time soon, if at all. Reportedly inspired by a proposal hatched by Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Mideast envoy, Israel has decided that, rather than proceeding with the second phase, it would instead prefer to extend the first, while, at the same time, imposing yet another siege on Gaza. No food or medicine will get in, and water and electricity will be cut. The Israelis know perfectly well how badly this will affect the people of Gaza’s lives, apparently referring to the idea as the “hell plan.” The implementation of this hell plan amounts to collective punishment, and should be considered a war crime, but that feels trite to mention at this stage.

The second phase of the ceasefire deal was meant to involve Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza, but why would they do that now, after Trump has openly stated the total ethnic cleansing of Gaza is the desired outcome here? That’s what the hell plan really speaks to. In the most immediate sense, it represents a way to pressure Hamas into releasing its remaining hostages without Israel having to make any more concessions of its own. But, more pertinently, the plan is a part of a wider program of ethnic cleansing which seeks to erase Palestinians from the land entirely. It is a way of making life so unbearable in Gaza that people have no option but to leave. It is hardly a novel scheme, given that Israel frequently uses starvation and siege as weapons of war, but it comes at a point of unprecedented desperation for the people of Gaza. And, should it fail to drive them away, the full-scale war can always be resumed.

The Arab states, at a summit in Cairo earlier this week, adopted a reconstruction plan which stands against the Israeli-American one of ethnic cleansing. It calls for about $53 billion to be raised through the U.N. and other international financial organizations, as well as through private sector investment, which would then be used over the course several years to rebuild Gaza, with its Palestinian population remaining in place, while allowing for a new governance structure of “independent Palestinian technocrats” to replace Hamas in the territory. It is somewhat reassuring to see the Arab states in alignment on the issue, but, really, the idea of the Americans and Israelis allowing for the plan to be implemented, at this point, is difficult to believe.

Israel is, for want of a less tired metaphor, off its leash now, and Trump is hardly going to be the one to rein it back in. Not only has he given his enthusiastic approval for ethnic cleansing in Gaza, but he is giving every indication he’ll back a full Israeli annexation of the West Bank, too. One of the first acts of his second presidency was reversing Biden-era sanctions against violent settlers in the West Bank, which has only added to Israel’s general feeling of empowerment. Settlers have been taking more and more control of the West Bank, inflicting more extreme levels of violence upon its Palestinian inhabitants, and preparing for what is increasingly starting to look like the beginning of an attempt at full-scale annexation.

Since the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire was implemented in January, actions in the West Bank have intensified. Israeli troops have cleared out entire refugee camps of Palestinians, destroyed homes and villages, torn up roads and bulldozed other infrastructure, cut off electricity and water, and arrested, beaten and shot many Palestinians, including children. Airstrikes have been launched, and, for the first time in more than 20 years, tanks have rolled into the West Bank. Masked settlers are free to steal and be violent, and the military is gearing up to prevent the 40,000 displaced Palestinians from returning home. The Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, has even said as much.

The horrors of the past year and a half have not ceased. They continue to grind on and expand, as Israel, sensing that the moment is moving in its favor, works towards achieving its ethno-nationalist fever dream of a religiously pure Greater Israel. Arab leaders will hatch plans to prevent displaced Palestinians from flooding into their countries, while, on the other hand, the United States and its pathetic vassals in Europe will unerringly support Israel’s sick project. The Palestinians will, as ever, resist, and they will be slaughtered by Israel for it.