New Age Dictators

Within days of ordering Palestinians from North Gaza to the South, Israel has recommenced bombing Gaza without impunity. Over 700 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the last 24 hours, taking the overall killed to beyond 16,000.

Qatar’s effort for a second truce was sabotaged by Israel by recalling Mossad representatives who had gone for negotiations. The first truce and hostage release came through only because Israel's War Cabinet Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkotargued stressed Israel must save the hostages it can.

Hamas has rubbished Israel’s claim of safe zones in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is now showing 800 shafts of tunnels in Gaza, which is not surprising considering that the tunnel network is about 500 km.

Going inside the tunnels would entail many casualties for the IDF. Hence, ‘sponge bombs’ will likely be used to fire-bomb some portion of the tunnel close to the opening. With incessant bombings, many civilians would be taking shelter inside the tunnels. The Palestinian casualties would, therefore, multiply that much faster, with some burnt and asphyxiated inside the tunnels.

Meanwhile, anti-Netanyahu protesters have gathered outside the Knesset with posters demanding his ouster. Concurrently, the trial into corruption charges against Benjamin Netanyahu is set to resume, which was postponed because of the Hamas attack on October 7. But the trial may take long with 50 more witnesses lined up.

In his recent post on X, author William Dalrymple stated that the Netanyahu government is flattening Gaza, with unprecedented speed and dehumanised ruthlessness, at a rate of nearly 1000 Palestinian deaths every single day. Netanyahu himself describes the process as a "thinning of the population," language usually reserved for the culling of animals

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It is pathetically amusing to see United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that Israel should avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. Does he see any chance of this? Not only does Netanyahu not have any such concern, the manner of his offensive is fully supported by Joe Biden. Both Netanyahu and Biden want Gaza devoid of Palestinians, some of the reasons being as under:

• According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Palestinian territories have 1,525 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. On request of the Palestine Authority, British Gas explored Palestine in 2000 and identified 30 billion bcm gas reserves. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates 30-45 bcm gas reserves off the Gaza coast. Israeli occupation prevents Palestinians from developing these oil-gas fields to meet socioeconomic development and energy needs.
• British gas exploration rights to the Gaza marine gas field expire in 2024 and America is worried Gaza could grant these rights to Russia. Oil is crucial to America's warmongering. America's Iraq invasion on false pretext and destruction of Russia's Nord Stream pipelines are just two examples.
• Declassified Israeli documents of July 1, 1963, reveal plans for nuclear excavation of a sea-level canal 160 miles (256 km) across Israel, connecting the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Aqaba – an alternative to the Suez Canal. Maximum excavation depth estimated was 1,500 feet. Palestinian territories are a hurdle to this plan.
• America backs Israel's plan to push Palestinians into the Sinai desert in refugee camps, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently offered $10 billion to Egypt and $5 billion to Jordan in exchange for accepting Palestinian refugees ex Gaza but both have rejected the offer.
• The US is loath to the OPEC Plus controlling oil prices and its dollar woes have gone up with Saudi Arabia and China signing a currency swap agreement.

Moreover, the US appears to be itching to take out Syria, Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, which it planned way back in 2000 as posted on the Global Research website. Therefore, it is looking to expand the Israel-Gaza war into a regional one.

Some American analysts speculate that Biden is leaning towards a nuclear war, which they say is foolish because the US has far less nukes than Russia and China combined. Biden probably thinks a war between a nuclear Israel and Iran will leave America unscathed. But when both the US and France helped Israel go nuclear, why would China and Russia not help Iran similarly. Moreover, to think the US will be able to enjoy such a nuclear exchange from the ringside is naïve.

It is interesting to note that because of the Israel-Hamas war, 78 US military members were advocating overthrowing the US Government or rather removing Joe Biden. The Pentagon has been releasing its extremism data to the US lawmakers since 2021. The recently released annual Pentagon report has made the above stunning revelation

Some other contents in the report include: anti-Biden sentiment thrives in US military amid the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza; 44 service members were suspected of supporting or engaging in terrorism in 2022.

Extremism in the ranks remains a troubling trend for the US military; cases of criminal gang activities, discrimination and engaging in violence to achieve political objectives, overall there are 183 allegations of extremism across all branches of military; US military marked a 25 % increase from the previous year’s level in such cases.

Separately, a scholar, published on the Information Clearing House blog, has pointed out that the Pentagon for the sixth consecutive year has failed to account for $1.9 trillion of its $3.8 trillion in assets. Such a huge sum obviously is used for waging or igniting wars around the world, not just black ops.

In humans, genetic variation accounts for about 0.001 percent of each person's DNA and contributes to differences in appearance and health. Joe Biden and Netanyahu don’t look like conjoined twins and would not have inherited the genes of Adolf Hitler, but they both sure fit the role of New Age Hitlers. Both will fight tooth and nail to defy a two-state solution, which is the requirement.

Lt General PRAKASH KATOCH is a veteran of the Indian Army. Views expressed are the writer’s own.