Israel driving ethnic cleansing of Gaza through home demolitions, says expert

By Faruk Hanedar

ISTANBUL (AA) - With the overwhelming majority of Gazans uprooted, Israel is driving its policy of ethnic cleansing in the enclave by demolishing their dwellings, according to an expert.

Jeff Halper, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, told Anadolu that Tel Aviv wants to transform an Arab country into a Jewish one.

"The only way that could be done is by displacing the Palestinian people, taking them off their land, and then taking their land and replacing them with Jewish settlers. House demolitions have become the main vehicle for this policy of ethnic cleansing," Halper added.

Since Israel's current onslaught in Gaza started in October, 300,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished, which is about 70% of houses in the enclave.

"So if you put all those homes together from 1948 until today, you see that the demolition of Palestinian homes is the main way in which Israel was trying to displace the Palestinians from their lands and then turning the country into a Jewish country," he added.

Halper, an anthropologist, said Israel drove 750,000 Palestinians out of their homes in 1948, which was about 80% of Palestine's population at the time.

Noting that Israel continues in its efforts to uproot almost 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza today, he said it made the region "uninhabitable" by destroying the houses and infrastructure.

"Israel is forcing the Palestinians out because there's no water, there's no food, there's no economy, there's no infrastructure. And Israel talks about voluntary transfer, which is another word for ethnic cleansing," he added.

Halper said Israel is trying to transfer millions of Palestinians out of Gaza, to other countries under the guise of humanitarian aid for Gazans who had been made refugees intentionally.

"It's all part of what we call the Judaization of Palestine," he said.

As Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Halper said it continues to commit that crime in Gaza, despite the world court's interim ruling of genocide plausibly taking place.

The ICJ ruled that "what Israel is doing falls within the Genocide Convention," he said, asserting that what is taking place in Gaza is "a process of genocide."

"What international law has called sometimes slow genocide. It's been going on for the last 75 years since 1948," he added.

This is evident in Israel's destruction of Palestinian culture and economy, as well as its seizure of Palestinian lands and its killing and displacing of its people.

"If you put all those things together, you have a bigger picture of genocide," he said, adding that Israel is "intentionally and systematically" destroying the Palestinian people.

- Protests, criticism, and the future

On demonstrations and boycotts that have erupted across the world in solidarity with Palestinians, he said it is crucial to mobilize public backing for Palestinians, as they lack the support of European governments.

"That's really what is allowing Israel to continue its genocide, the United States and Europe, NATO countries," he said.

"It is not enough to protest and resist and mobilize and cry out — which is all important — but we have to have a plan for the future," he said.

Harper said he and his organization are part of a wider, Palestinian-led movement for "one democratic state over all of Palestine in which everyone has equal rights and the refugees return."

Stressing that Israel is using antisemitism as a weapon to "delegitimize" criticism and protest against Israel.

He said there are many Jews, especially in younger generations, and especially in the US, that oppose "Israel's genocidal policies."

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and 70,457 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar