On a pause from genocide, Israel turns its focus to ethnic cleansing

On Sunday, February 23rd, Israel deployed tanks in the occupied West Bank for the first time in over two decades. This marked the latest in a series of escalatory belligerent actions since January, amid the fragile implementation of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, raising concerns about prolonged instability.

Of course, Israel’s ongoing genocidal policy in Gaza is inherently long-term, implying that any ceasefire is necessarily temporary. Since the commencement of its 15-month assault on the Palestinian enclave in October 2023, the Israeli military has officially killed at least 48,365 Palestinians, mostly women and children, though the actual death toll is undoubtedly much higher. A significant portion of Gaza's residents have been displaced by Israeli attacks, with many experiencing displacement more than once, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

The Times of Israel reported that since January 21, over 40,100 Palestinians in West Bank refugee camps, such as Jenin, have “fled their homes” in what is allegedly the largest displacement in the area since the Six-Day War of 1967. On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the army to prepare for “a year-long long-term presence in the cleared camps and not to allow residents to return,” signaling a policy of forced displacement.

This ethnic cleansing paves the way for annexation, a key fantasy of the Israeli right wing. This utterly illegal scheme may soon also receive the explicit endorsement of US President Donald Trump, who stated in early February: “People do like the idea, but we have not taken a position on it,” indicating a potential shift in US policy.

The day after Israel deployed tanks in the West Bank and Katz effectively announced a campaign of ethnic cleansing, the EU and Israel held the 13th meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council in Brussels, attended by representatives of all 27 EU countries and co-chaired by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, highlighting the ongoing diplomatic engagement despite escalating tensions.

In theory, this meeting would have been a timely opportunity to call on Israel to halt its mass forced displacement in the West Bank and ongoing slaughter, not to mention the genocide in Gaza. Three days before the Brussels meeting, Israeli forces shot two Palestinian children in the back in separate incidents near Jenin and Hebron, underscoring the urgent need for accountability.

Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement stipulates that “relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.” Spanish and Irish leaders invoked this clause in February 2024, calling for a review of whether Israel was violating the agreement’s human rights obligations, emphasizing the importance of upholding international law.

But at Monday’s meeting with Sa’ar, it became clear that the EU – Israel’s largest trading partner – is more concerned with maintaining ties with a state committing all manner of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the official “note” on the EU position in advance of the meeting, the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU-Israel Association Council first stressed that “the EU attaches great importance to its close relationship with the State of Israel,” revealing the prioritization of economic and political interests.

In the remainder of the 28-page PDF, the EU alternates between expressing “full solidarity and support for Israel and its people” and identifying Israel as a “key partner” in numerous areas, further ingratiating itself to Israel. The note emphasizes how much the EU “looks forward” to working with Israel to “address global challenges” and to “accelerate the world’s transition towards safe and just food systems” – a very rich assignment for those who have just “used starvation as a weapon of war” in Gaza, creating a stark contrast between stated goals and actions on the ground.

This is not to say that the Europeans did not offer any criticisms of Israel in the 28 pages. The note does mention “the EU deeply regrets the high loss of civilian lives, particularly women and children, in Gaza”; “the EU recalls that annexation is illegal under international law”; and “the EU remains gravely concerned about the widespread practice of Israel’s indiscriminate arrests and administrative detention without formal charge.” But any substantive condemnation is ultimately drowned out by how excited Europe is to cooperate with Israel, now and in the future, showcasing a willingness to overlook human rights concerns for the sake of collaboration.

The statement also tells us that “the EU is gravely concerned that the occupation of Palestinian territory which began in 1967 continues to this day” and reiterates support for a two-state solution. Yet how exactly the occupation is supposed to end when the country not only conducting the occupation but also attempting to eradicate the Palestinian people is hailed as an outstanding regional partner remains anyone’s guess, highlighting the disconnect between rhetoric and reality.

Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar told reporters in Brussels that he defended Israel’s current campaign of forced displacement in the West Bank, which has seen widespread killings by the army and illegal settlers as well as house demolitions: “This is a military operation against terrorists, with no other objective,” continuing the pattern of justifying actions under the guise of security.

To be sure, the hoary pretext of counter-terrorism has never managed to justify Israel’s permanent terrorizing of Palestinians. When Israel began escalating its West Bank operations in January, Defense Minister Katz also trotted out the “terror” word to explain how Israel was applying “the first lesson of the method of repeated attacks in Gaza” by conducting “a powerful operation in Jenin to eliminate terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the camp, ensuring that terrorism does not return to the camp after the operation,” revealing a strategy of transferring tactics from Gaza to the West Bank.

In effect, Israel’s operations in the West Bank are simply an extension of the genocidal approach in Gaza, with mass slaughter and displacement occurring with the full complicity of the US and Europe, which offer only occasional lip service to Palestinian rights, demonstrating a pattern of international inaction in the face of human rights abuses.

It remains to be seen whether Trump will now propose a “Dead Sea Riviera” in the West Bank to rival the “Middle East Riviera” he envisions supposedly springing up from the ruins of the Gaza Strip, once the US controls the territory and expels the local inhabitants, highlighting the speculative and controversial nature of proposed development plans.

In the meantime, Israeli crimes against humanity will continue to be normalized by the country’s “key partners” around the globe, while genocide is increasingly relegated to the realm of non-news. Frankly, this in itself constitutes a crime against humanity, emphasizing the urgent need for accountability and justice.