Despite Hamas having agreed to a proposal for a ceasefire, Israel chose to initiate its invasion of Gaza City on Wednesday evening. Alexander Atarodi says that Israel has no interest in a ceasefire.
There was a small window last summer and some kind of will from both sides, but it did not go through for various reasons. Now water has flowed under the bridges and I do not think that Israel is interested in a ceasefire today. This at the same time as Israel is being heavily pressured by both international and domestic protests.
”Does not add up”
Previously, the Israeli government has stated that the invasion would be preceded by evacuations of the city's approximately one million inhabitants. If they are telling the truth remains to be seen.
One is discussing with other countries to relocate the population of Gaza to Libya or Somaliland or Sudan, at the same time as one says that one is evacuating the Palestinians to another part of Gaza. That equation does not add up, says Alexander Atarodi.
Moreover, Israel is violating international law if it forcibly relocates the population, he adds.
It is a humanitarian disaster of a magnitude that we rarely have seen. That, in addition to what has already happened, to expel these people from a small geographical area to an even smaller geographical area in southern Gaza, where there are already about a million people – it means enormous suffering.
Hidden agenda?
What Israel wants to achieve by taking Gaza City is shrouded in darkness, according to the Middle East expert.
Israel has said that it wants to "cleanse" Gaza City of terrorists, Hamas members, in order to then hand over the control of Gaza to someone else, without defining exactly who. There can absolutely be a hidden agenda, that one wants to mislead the rest of the world.
That it happens right now – when the US President Donald Trump and European leaders are focusing on the war in Ukraine – is worrying, says Atarodi.
In the long run, I am very worried about the consequences of this destructive force, for global security policy and of course also for the view on democracy and human rights.
