Israel carrying out ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza: Ex-Defence Minister

Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Israel is carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in northern Gaza, accusing Premier Benjamin Netanyahu of leading the country to “ruin.”

Speaking in an interview on Saturday with the Israeli channel Democratv, Yaalon criticised the policies of Netanyahu's right-wing government in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, saying: “We are being dragged into occupation, annexation, ethnic cleansing—look at the north of Gaza —displacement, and Jewish settlement.”

Yaalon, who served as the defence minister from 2013-2016, emphasised during the interview that the Israeli army’s actions in Palestine's Gaza amount to "ethnic cleansing."

The interviewer interrupted, asking: “Did I hear you correctly? Ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza—do you think we are on that path?” Yaalon responded: “Why ‘on the path’? What is happening there? Beit Lahia no longer exists, Beit Hanoon no longer exists, and now they are working on Jabalia. They (the Israeli army) are cleansing the area of Arabs.”

Since Oct. 5, Israel has launched a large-scale ground offensive in northern Gaza, Palestinians say Israel is seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on Gaza killing over 44,300 people, most of them women and children, and wounding more than 105,000.

The second year of the genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labelling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

On November 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.