【明報專訊】ISRAEL has renewed its offensive in the Gaza Strip, breaking the ceasefire agreement with Hamas unilaterally. The Israeli military leaders have unabashedly revealed plans to fully occupy Gaza while the cabinet has geared up for a so-called "voluntary emigration" plan, a clear indication of their intention to commit ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. Washington has connived at Israel's actions to an unprecedented scale since the return of Donald Trump's presidency. The European countries, shaken by shifts in the US's foreign policies, have also had a lot on their plates and left Israel getting its own way. The Palestinians, lacking bargaining power, can only watch helplessly as their land is gradually encroached upon.
The first phase of a six-week truce reached between Israel and Hamas in January expired earlier this month. According to the deal, the two sides should have started negotiations on the second phase arrangements, which envisaged the release of all hostages in return for a full withdrawal of the Israeli troops from Gaza and an end to the war. Hamas supported the start of the second phase negotiations, but Israel and the US proposed extending the first phase ceasefire with no clear guarantee that the war would end. Citing "Hamas's rejection of an extension" as a reason, Israel resumed its military strikes in Gaza on 18 March and shattered the ceasefire unilaterally.
During the new round of operations, the Israeli military attacked civilian facilities like hospitals. The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the only hospital still functioning in the Strip, was bombarded on 23 March, accelerating the collapse of Gaza's medical system further. With over 900 people killed in Gaza since the war restarted, the death toll in the Gaza conflict has surpassed 50,000. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday (30 March) that the military tactics against Hamas are working, and that Hamas leaders would be "allowed to leave" if they agreed to lay down their weapons.
All signs show that Israel is using warfare to pave the way for permanent occupation. Israel Katz, the country's defence minister, stated clearly a few days ago that Israel will expand its occupation of Gaza if Hamas "refuses to release the hostages". He ordered the forces to "seize more territory, evacuate the local population and expand buffer zones". The security cabinet of Israel even approved the establishment of a "voluntary emigration directorate" to begin relocating Gaza residents to third countries.
Aside from Gaza, the Israeli military has also launched the most extensive military campaign in nearly two decades in the West Bank, demolishing homes in four Palestinian refugee camps, including Jenin, displacing over 40,000 Palestinians. Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was assaulted by Jewish settlers and taken away by Israeli troops on 24 March. His village has been attacked at least 43 times since the year started. Furthermore, Israel is also intensifying its legal groundwork for annexing the West Bank. Earlier, its cabinet legalised 13 Jewish "settlements" that were built without government approval.
The Trump administration has shielded Israel in an all-out manner. Recently, it suppressed pro-Palestinian voices on the US soil in the name of probing "anti-Semitism". Around 300 student visas were revoked. The scope of the repression even extended to students who had only published newspaper articles in support of Palestinians. The international community must uphold its position and urge Israel to end the war. If the Western powers continue to remain silent, that would be the same as connivance to aggression and ethnic cleansing.
明報社評2025.03.31：再攻加沙以軍居心叵測 國際社會須阻種族清洗
以色列再度對加沙發動攻擊，單方面破壞跟哈馬斯的停火協議，以軍高層毫不掩飾表示有意全面佔領加沙，內閣亦準備推行所謂「自願移民」計劃，種族清洗巴勒斯坦人的企圖昭然若揭。美國總統特朗普上台後，華府對以色列的縱容前所未有；歐洲諸國亦因美國外交政策轉變帶來的震盪，自顧不暇，讓以色列為所欲為。毫無議價能力的巴人，唯有眼睜睜看着自己的土地一點一滴遭蠶食。
以色列今年1月跟哈馬斯達成6周停火協議，第一階段停火本月初結束，按協議，以哈雙方要就第二階段安排展開談判，即釋放所有人質換取以軍全面撤出加沙及結束戰爭，哈馬斯支持展開第二階段談判，但以色列跟美國卻建議延長第一階段停火，沒有明確保證結束戰爭。以色列以「哈馬斯拒絕延期」為由，3月18日恢復向加沙用兵，單方面破壞停火協議。
以軍在新一輪行動中攻擊醫院等民用設施，加沙南部汗尤尼斯（Khan Younis）納賽爾醫院是加沙僅存仍能運作的醫院，但3月23日遭以軍襲擊，進一步加速加沙醫療系統崩潰。戰火重燃以來，加沙逾900人死亡，令加沙戰爭死亡人數突破5萬。以總理內塔尼亞胡昨稱，對哈馬斯的軍事策略正在奏效，如果哈馬斯領導層同意放下武器將被「允許離開」。
種種迹象顯示，以色列正藉戰事為永久佔領鋪路。以色列防長卡茨（Israel Katz）日前明言，若哈馬斯「不釋放人質」，將擴大佔領加沙土地，並下令軍方「奪取更多地區、撤走當地人口、擴大安全區」。以色列安全內閣更通過成立「自願移民局」，着手將加沙居民遷往第三國。
除了加沙，以軍近期亦在西岸展開近20年來最大規模的軍事行動，清拆杰寧等4個巴人難民營的民房，超過4萬巴人被逐。奧斯卡最佳紀錄片《家不成家：我生於巴勒斯坦》的其中一名巴人導演巴拉勒（Hamdan Ballal）3月24日遭猶太殖民者襲擊，被以軍帶走。年初以來，巴拉勒的村莊已遭受至少43次襲擊。以色列亦加緊在法理上為吞併西岸鋪路，內閣早前將13個未經政府批准興建的猶太人「定居點」合法化。
特朗普政府全力包庇以色列，近日以「反猶」之名，打壓美國國內支持巴勒斯坦聲音，取消近300名學生簽證，打壓範圍甚至延伸至僅在報章撰文支持巴人的學生。國際社會必須堅定立場，督促以色列結束戰爭。西方大國繼續選擇沉默，形同縱容侵略與種族清洗。
■/ Glossary 生字 /
connive (at sth) : to seem to allow sth wrong to happen
envisage : to imagine what will happen in the future
groundwork : work that is done as preparation for other work that will be done later