In a rare critique of Israel’s own security sector on military operations in the Palestinian enclave, a former Israeli defense minister accused his nation of committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with the Reshet Bet radio station on Sunday, Moshe Yaalon said that the Israeli government was endangering the lives of Israel Defense Forces personnel and subjecting them to lawsuits at the International Criminal Court.
He replied, “I speak for commanders who are in northern Gaza.” Here, war crimes are being perpetrated.
He claimed in a different interview with Democrat TV on Saturday that the Israeli government was attempting to annex, conquer, and engage in ethnic cleansing.
He claimed that as the Israeli military gets ready to move against Hamas forces who have regrouped, hardliners want to re-establish Jewish settlements in Gaza, especially in northern areas where residents have been advised to leave indefinitely.
What’s happening there? They are currently operating in Jabalia and essentially ridding the area of Arabs, according to Yaalon. There is no Beit Lahiya or Beit Hanoun.
The IDF was contacted for comment by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani stated in an X post that the IDF follows international law and evacuates individuals for their own safety when necessary.
He went on to say that the IDF denies the grave allegations that it is carrying out ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.
During the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, which came to an end in 2005, Yaalon served as the IDF’s chief of staff. From 2013 to 2016, he also held the position of defense minister, which included the 2014 war in Gaza, which lasted more than six weeks and was the longest confrontation between Israel and Hamas until the current one.
After resigning in 2016, claiming he no longer trusted Netanyahu, he has been an outspoken opponent of the prime leader ever since.
Yaalon’s comments were swiftly denounced by Netanyahu’s supporters.
According to Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister until Netanyahu removed him last month, Yaalon’s remarks are a falsehood that benefits our adversary and hurts Israel.
The IDF operated in accordance with the highest standards that can be applied in the complicated and challenging war that was imposed upon us during Israel’s conflict with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Gallant stated in a post on X that the directives and directives were always delivered in compliance with the law.
In light of his security history, I advise Yaalon to study the truth, retract his statements, and show regret to IDF warriors, he continued.
Yaalon is a former member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, which claimed that Yaalon was disseminating false information.
Yaalon’s remarks followed the issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant by the International Criminal Court last month due to allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. In addition to denouncing the ICC as a prejudiced and discriminatory political organization, Netanyahu’s staff rejected the charges as baseless and untrue and called the ruling antisemitic.
Opposition to the arrest warrants has come from a variety of Israeli political parties.
The Biden administration has warned of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel has permitted limited supplies to enter in recent months, but it also denies the arrest orders.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, since the Israel-Hamas conflict started on October 7, 2023, with Hamas’ terrorist strike on Israel, more than 44,000 people have died and more than 100,000 have been injured. According to Israeli estimates, the strike killed roughly 1,200 people, and more than a year later, about 100 of the hostages are still being held captive in Gaza. Approximately one-third of them are believed to be deceased.
Nearly all of Gaza’s two million residents have also been uprooted by the war.
The high number of civilian casualties in Gaza has been denounced by the U.N. Human Rights Office, which reported last month that women and children accounted for about 70% of the victims it confirmed occurred in the six months ending April 30 of this year.
The report was rejected by Israel’s diplomatic mission to the U.N. in Geneva, which claimed it did not accurately depict the situation on the ground or the part Hamas and other terrorist organizations play in planning attacks on civilians in Gaza.
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