Gideon's Ships

Written by: Ismail Jumaa Al-Rimawi

As the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip continues, the outlines of a plan far more dangerous than a mere military operation are emerging. This plan bears a biblical name—"Gideon's Boats"—but in essence, it is merely a political cover for a new phase of its forced displacement project. Through its policy of intensive bombardment and the strangulation of civilians, Israel aims not only to exhaust the resistance but also to relocate the population within a besieged geographic area in the far south, paving the way for their transformation from a fixed political-demographic reality into a "transferable human mass," meaning a population destined for displacement beyond its borders. In this sense, Operation Gideon Boats is not just a military campaign, but a direct extension of the theory of "controlling territory through controlling populations," whereby military decisiveness becomes a means of producing a new scenario: a Gaza without resistance, without population density, and perhaps without Palestinians. This qualitative shift in Israeli security doctrine redefines the objectives of war, from deterrence to displacement, from temporary control to emptying the territory and re-engineering it politically and geographically to serve the project of Netanyahu and his coalition of extreme Zionist right-wingers on the ruins of the Palestinian cause.
With each new military escalation in the Gaza Strip, it becomes clear that Israeli operations are not merely a war against an armed faction, but rather a systematic war targeting the Palestinian existence itself. Since the beginning of the current aggression, Israel has adopted a strategy of gradual displacement, forcibly transferring residents from the north of the Strip to the center, then to the south, and now placing them in the Rafah trap, where they are subjected to a stifling siege and continuous bombardment. This clearly reflects an Israeli policy aimed at emptying Gaza of its population. The expansion of the military operation to include the south of the Morag axis, coinciding with the violent escalation in Rafah, is not merely a military measure; it is a central step in implementing the displacement plan revealed by official documents, leaks, and multiple reports. These documents demonstrate that Israel is working to transform the Strip into an uninhabitable environment, pushing Palestinians toward one option: departure.
This escalation cannot be separated from the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence document published on October 13, 2023, which explicitly called for "transferring Gaza residents to North Sinai," considering it "Israel's preferred strategic solution." This document, which was published by several media outlets, including Al Jazeera, was not merely a theoretical idea; it was reflected on the ground through systematic displacement operations that began in the north, then spread to the south, and are now being implemented with greater ferocity in Rafah. Statements by Israeli officials left no room for doubt about the true intentions behind these military operations. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the progress of the plan to displace Gaza residents, revealing the formation of a unit within the Ministry of Defense to organize the deportations. Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir asserted that "the only solution is to encourage the emigration of Palestinians."
Expanding military operations in the Gaza Strip serves this agenda through multiple tactics, most notably the destruction of infrastructure, targeting displacement camps, and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid, rendering Gaza uninhabitable. Asharq Al-Awsat revealed that Israel is considering a "soft deportation policy," by opening crossings and exit routes to Sinai or by sea, while offering financial incentives to those who leave. This aligns with the actions of Zionist lobbies in Washington, which are promoting Palestinian resettlement projects under the guise of a "humanitarian solution."
In the ground campaign it intends to launch soon, Israel seeks to gather the population of the entire Gaza Strip south of the Morag axis, then target them with bombing and starvation. This is not merely military revenge; it is a political tool to achieve the transfer project, which seeks to redraw the demographic map of the Gaza Strip and transform it into an entity emptied of its inhabitants, placing it either under complete Israeli control or subject to a new reality imposed by regional and international interests, thus resuming settlement projects. This plan, which is being repeated today with more brutal methods, is essentially no different from the 1948 Nakba or the ethnic cleansing massacres in Lod and Jaffa. However, this time it is being implemented under the guise of "international legitimacy" and "fighting terrorism," and in full view of the world, including Arab and international countries. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority appears to be completely unconcerned with what is happening, as the Palestinians as a whole, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, face one of the largest colonial projects in their modern history.
What is happening in Gaza is not just a new chapter of military aggression, but rather the practical implementation of a long-term Israeli plan aimed at emptying the land of its inhabitants and imposing a new demographic and political reality that serves the Zionist project. Bombardment, starvation, and the denial of aid are not only tools of war, but also tools of forced displacement carried out amid international silence and regional complicity. The silence of the international community, the inability of UN institutions, and the absence of a decisive Arab position are all factors that encourage Israel to continue on this path of destruction. In the absence of a unified Palestinian-Arab strategy to confront this existential threat, there is an urgent need to reformulate a national resistance project that restores respect for the Palestinian right to land and return, and thwarts the displacement project that threatens to repeat a new Nakba.

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What is happening in Gaza is not just a new chapter of military aggression, but rather a practical implementation of a long-term Israeli plan aimed at emptying the land of its owners and imposing a new demographic and political reality that serves the Zionist project.