Friday, August 8, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Smotrich: “We will finally occupy the Gaza Strip”

The situation in Gaza

Published 6 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Bezalel Smotrich has long advocated for the permanent Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the area.
2 minute read

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Monday that the country intends to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the planned expansion of the offensive against the area.

We will stop being afraid of the word ‘occupation’, declared Smothrich.

On Monday, Israel’s security cabinet unanimously approved a plan to expand the military operation in Gaza, which, according to government officials, means a de facto occupation of the entire Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of reservists have been called up for the operation.

We are finally going to occupy the Gaza Strip. We will stop being afraid of the word ‘occupation’, said the Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party leader during a conference organized by B’Sheva newspaper.

Prime Minister Netanyahu described the operation as “intensive” and stressed that Israel will not withdraw from areas taken under its control.

– Once the new offensive is launched, Israel will not withdraw from conquered territories. The intention is the opposite of that, said Netanyahu in a video clip on X.

Opposition: It’s about saving Netanyahu

Netanyahu added that Gaza’s civilian population will be moved south “for its own protection” as part of the plan.

The decision has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition and relatives of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. Many accuse the government of prioritizing territorial gains over human lives.

– The cabinet decided last night to expand the military operation inside the Gaza Strip – not to maintain Israel’s security, but to save Netanyahu and the extremist government, opposition leader Yair Golan wrote on X.

May constitute genocide

Plans to forcibly displace civilians in Gaza raise questions of international law. According to the UN Genocide Convention, the forcible transfer of a protected group with the intent to destroy it in whole or in part may constitute genocide.

Also under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), such displacement can count as a crime against humanity.

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Green light for the occupation of Gaza City – one million expected to be displaced

The genocide in Gaza

Published today 13:51
– By Editorial Staff
Netanyahu firmly denies that Israel will take permanent control of the area.
2 minute read

Israel’s security cabinet has approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for a full-scale occupation of Gaza City – an offensive expected to last for months and lead to around one million Palestinians being driven from their homes.

The decision, made after more than ten hours of closed deliberations, represents a significant escalation of the war against Hamas and risks, according to critics, paving the way for permanent Israeli control over the entire Gaza Strip.

The announcement came just hours after Netanyahu stated in an interview that Israel intends to take control of all of Gaza.

– We intend to (take control of all of Gaza). We don’t want to keep Gaza. We want a security perimeter, claimed Israel’s prime minister and continued:

– We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us.

Ground invasion and siege

The plan is officially justified by the need to eliminate Hamas, which according to Israel has refused to cooperate regarding the release of the remaining Israeli hostages. Around 50 people are still being held captive, with more than half believed to be dead.

The military operation is estimated to last several months and is expected to lead to around one million Palestinians being driven from Gaza.

According to American and Israeli officials, US President Donald Trump does not oppose the plan and has decided not to intervene in the conflict.

Axios correspondent Barak Ravid writes on X that a senior Israeli official states that the operation will initially be limited to Gaza City.

The goal is to evacuate all Palestinian civilians from the city to central refugee camps and other areas by October 7. After that, a siege will be imposed on the Hamas militants who remain, while a ground offensive is carried out.

The prime minister and defense minister have been given a mandate to approve the IDF’s (Israel Defense Forces) final operational plan.

Swedish minister praises Israel’s destruction of Gaza: “Doing the whole world a service”

The genocide in Gaza

Published 6 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Swedish politician Ebba Busch and her party's support for Israel continues to be virtually limitless - despite warnings of ethnic cleansing, genocide and war crimes.
3 minute read

While increasing voices condemn the Israeli invasion of Gaza as an ongoing genocide and Prime Minister Netanyahu openly speaks of occupying the entire area, Swedish Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch chooses instead to praise Israel’s war.

— Israel is doing the whole world a service, she declares, pointing to Hamas as solely responsible for the suffering and destruction in the region.

The statement comes after the Swedish government announced it wants to freeze the EU’s trade agreement with Israel, in an attempt to increase pressure to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. But the decision has met with criticism, particularly from the Christian Democrats – a party that has long acted as one of Israel’s most loyal defenders in Swedish politics, support that seems unaffected by whatever war crimes or crimes against humanity Israel has been accused of.

Busch herself expresses some reservation about the government’s line, arguing that the message was presented in an unbalanced way:

— The focus became one-sided, she claims.

In a Facebook post, the Christian Democrat leader writes that the government’s position may be reconsidered:

“If Israel does more or if it turns out that there is no basis for Israel bearing a great responsibility for the emergency aid not getting through, there is no reason to maintain the government’s position”.

She adds that “it is unambiguous that Hamas bears the great responsibility for the war and the human suffering in Gaza”.

“Need to increase pressure on Hamas”

While Israel’s invasion and bombings have led to tens of thousands of killed women and children, extensive civilian devastation and harsh international condemnations, Busch chooses to fully defend the country’s actions.

— The root of the war we see between Israel and Hamas is precisely Hamas. It was Hamas that started this war with the terrible terrorist act almost two years ago. It is Hamas that chooses to continue holding hostages, it is Hamas that chooses not to sign peace agreements. And we need to increase pressure on Hamas to lay down their weapons, she says.

— Israel is doing the whole world a service in trying to neutralize Hamas and trying to dissolve Hamas.

When asked if she stands behind the government’s message about working to freeze the trade agreement, Busch answers:

— We have opened up for the far-reaching measure of putting higher economic pressure on Israel, if it is the case that Israel is not doing everything within reason’s limits to let humanitarian support through.

Won’t comment on occupation plans

Recently, the Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. Busch, however, does not want to reveal whether she supports these plans or not.

— I haven’t seen that and then I don’t want to comment on it.

The government’s message has also stirred emotions domestically. The very pro-Israeli Sweden Democrats’ party leader Jimmie Åkesson called the decision a “disaster” in a post on X. Ebba Busch, however, does not want to answer whether the Sweden Democrats can be given influence over foreign policy going forward:

— Now we have the agreement that we have now, she says.

A poem about the children in Gaza while the world watches

The genocide in Gaza

The children cry from hunger and dream of peace – but the world remains silent. Swedish artist and poet Malin Sellergren depicts the unbearable reality of children in this poem.

Published 5 August 2025
2 minute read

Daily terror, daily pain,
children cry in Gaza’s rain.
Six thousand trucks with food denied,
they starve while waiting on the side.

The bombs fall hard, the homes are gone,
on the cold ground they sleep until dawn.
At night they scream from endless fear,
by day they cry with hunger near.

When will this torment find its end?
When will the broken hearts still find mend?
No bread to eat, no life to live,
a mother’s boy had love to give.

He thought, I made it, almost there!
but bullets struck and stilled his air.
So many tried for food that day,
the soldiers came and shot their way.

And in the streets, so many fall,
just children, innocent through all.
For they were born in Palestine,
their lives erased, erased in line.

The world’s afraid, its leaders weak,
they whisper low, but dare not speak.
Sanctions stall, while time runs thin,
should we boycott oranges… or tangerines?

Yet weapons flow from west to east,
while crumbs are dropped, a guilty feast.
Millions starve, their hope is small,
the world looks on, and does not call.

No one dares to say “Enough!”
Israel’s hand is far too tough.
And those who speak are smeared with hate,
their voices drowned, their words too late.

Meanwhile children pay the price,
their lives are bartered, sacrificed.
Leaders claim this land their own,
they crush the seeds the kids have sown.

But still, among the ash and flame,
the children whisper freedom’s name.
Though caught in Gaza on the street
some of their hearts still beat.

 

Malin Sellergren, PoeticArtstories

Israeli security chiefs urge end to invasion: “Driven by messianic zealots”

The genocide in Gaza

Published 4 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
A large number of former Israeli security chiefs believe that Israel is being harmed by the Netanyahu government's continued warfare.
4 minute read

Israel’s war in Gaza must come to an immediate end – that is the demand from 19 former high-ranking leaders of the country’s military and intelligence services.

They argue that the invasion has long lacked military purpose and is now driven by political forces with religiously fanatical motives.

Although the Israeli government describes its invasion of Gaza as a defensive war against Hamas, increasing international voices have pointed out that the Israelis are engaging in ethnic cleansing and genocide and intend to permanently displace the Palestinian population and take over their land.

Now a number of Israel’s most experienced former military and security chiefs are joining the condemnations. In a joint video, 19 former high-ranking officials from the defense forces, intelligence services and police call for an immediate end to the war.

They argue that the war could have been concluded long ago – but that it is now being continued for political and religiously fanatical reasons, not out of military necessity.

Among the signatories are former Prime Minister and IDF (Israel Defense Forces) chief Ehud Barak, as well as former defense chiefs of staff Moshe Ya’alon and Dan Halutz, former Shin Bet (Israeli internal security service) directors Yoram Cohen, Ami Ayalon and Nadav Argaman, and former Mossad (Israeli foreign intelligence service) chief Tamir Pardo.

“Achieved all military objectives”

— We have a duty to stand up and say what we need to say. This war started as a just war. It was a defensive war. But once we achieved all its military objectives, once we achieved a brilliant military victory against all our enemies, this war stopped being a just war. It is leading the State of Israel to the loss of its security and identity, says Ami Ayalon in the video.

A narrator’s voice opens the film by emphasizing the weight of the participants’ collective experience and explains that the men now demanding an end to the war have all operated in Israel’s innermost circles and been involved in the most sensitive decision-making processes.

— Together, they have more than a thousand years’ experience in national security and diplomacy, it is proclaimed.

The message in the video is clear: the war could have been ended long ago, and must now be replaced with a permanent ceasefire and an agreement that leads to the release of the approximately 50 remaining Israeli hostages in one comprehensive deal.

“On the precipice of defeat”

Former military intelligence chief Amos Malka says that Israel is “well over a year past the point when we could have ended the war with a sufficient operational result”.

— We are now mostly offsetting losses, states Nadav Argaman.

— We are on the precipice of defeat, warns Tamir Pardo.

He directs sharp criticism at the Israeli war strategy and the humanitarian catastrophe created in Gaza:

— What the world sees today is of our own creation. We are hiding behind a lie that we wrought. This lie was sold to the Israeli public, and the world has long since understood that it doesn’t reflect the real picture.

“The minority controls the policy”

Moshe Ya’alon points to what he describes as a religiously extremist power constellation controlling the government’s actions:

— There are moments that represent a black flag in which one must stand firm and say: This far and no further. Right now, we have a government that the messianic zealots have pulled in a certain, irrational direction.

— They are a minority – but the problem is that the minority controls the policy, adds Yoram Cohen.

He also criticizes the idea of total victory over Hamas as a dangerous illusion:

— Anyone who believes Israel can reach every terrorist and every pit and every weapon, and at the same time bring our hostages home, is entertaining a fantasy.

Urging others to take a stand

In their closing message, the security veterans turn to those who now hold their former positions within the defense and intelligence establishments. They are urged to take a stand and dare to speak out.

— They must bravely stand up before the prime minister and before the cabinet and say their piece about this war and its futility, says Nadav Argaman.

— It is their duty to say what they can do and what cannot be done, even if someone really wants it.

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