Greater Israel: A ‘Dream’ Of Ethnic Cleansing & The Genocide of Palestinians

The ongoing war in Gaza has increasingly aligned with the longstanding political vision of “Greater Israel,” a concept rooted in Revisionist Zionism that envisions exclusive Israeli control over all territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. As Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and far-right coalition partners, explicitly reject Palestinian statehood while implementing policies of permanent security control, settlement expansion, and promoting “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza, the military campaign appears consistent with broader territorial ambitions that have deep historical and ideological foundations in Israeli politics—from Jabotinsky’s early Revisionist movement to today’s mainstreamed Kahanist factions—supported by continued U.S. military aid and European arms flows despite accusations of genocidal intent by human rights organizations and legal experts.

For the first time in Israeli history, prominent Israeli human rights organizations B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel have formally accused their own government of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, joining an unprecedented international consensus that includes the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, UN bodies, and major human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. This extraordinary convergence of legal determinations comes as the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 62,700 Palestinians, with genocide scholars achieving unanimous consensus that Israel’s actions constitute genocide—part of what experts describe as a continuum of ethnic cleansing that began with the 1948 Nakba and has reached its most intensive phase since October 2023, facilitated by unprecedented Western military and diplomatic support despite mounting evidence of systematic destruction and explicit statements of genocidal intent by Israeli officials.

Palestinians living in the occupied territories face a daily reality marked by severe movement restrictions, economic strangulation, and systematic prosecution of children through military courts—conditions that have dramatically worsened since October 2023, with nearly 900 new checkpoints erected in the West Bank alone and unprecedented civilian devastation in Gaza where children account for approximately half of all casualties and represent one of the world’s most traumatized populations. This comprehensive examination reveals how decades of occupation policies have created what residents describe as systematic oppression affecting every aspect of Palestinian life, from childhood development to agricultural livelihoods, implemented through what Israeli military doctrine openly terms “mowing the grass”—periodic military operations designed to maintain control without pursuing political solutions.

The occupied West Bank has witnessed an unprecedented surge in child fatalities since October 2023, with UN data revealing that 468 Palestinian children have been killed over nearly two decades of documentation, including a dramatic acceleration following October 7 that has fundamentally altered the nature of military operations through the introduction of airstrikes and drone attacks. According to UNICEF, Palestinian child deaths increased by 200% in the 16 months following October 7, 2023, with over 1,290 children injured by live ammunition and other weapons as violence has concentrated particularly in northern areas like Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas governorates, where large-scale military operations continue amid an escalating push for West Bank annexation that has seen the establishment of 22 new settlements and systematic administrative changes preparing the territory for potential Israeli sovereignty.

Based on extensive documentation from human rights organizations and UN experts, Israel operates the world’s only systematic military court system that prosecutes children, processing between 500-700 Palestinian children annually through a detention system that maintains a 99.74% conviction rate and has subjected an estimated 17,000-18,000 Palestinian children over three decades to what UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese describes as “unchilding”—a systematic process of stripping children of their childhood through state-sanctioned violence, torture, and legal discrimination. This comprehensive system of child criminalization has intensified dramatically since October 7, 2023, with administrative detention of children reaching unprecedented levels while family visits remain completely banned and conditions deteriorate to levels that have proven fatal for young detainees.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from Gaza into southern Israel, marking the first large-scale invasion of Israeli territory since 1948 and resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages taken. The attack has generated intense controversy over Israeli intelligence failures, military response delays, the implementation of the controversial Hannibal Directive that resulted in Israeli forces killing their own civilians, and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s resistance to establishing a comprehensive state investigation into the catastrophic security breakdown. Allegations range from abandoning and even sacrificing the October 7th victims (including hostages).

Media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict has become increasingly scrutinized as evidence mounts of systematic bias, censorship, and narrative manipulation across Western news organizations, with documented patterns ranging from pre-state Zionist propaganda operations beginning in the 1920s to contemporary restrictions on terminology like “Palestine,” “genocide,” and “apartheid.” Analysis reveals how institutional guidelines at outlets like the CBC, BBC, and wire services create disparities in casualty reporting, amplify unverified Israeli claims while marginalizing Palestinian perspectives, and operate within broader political frameworks that criminalize criticism of Israeli policies through anti-antisemitism legislation, terrorism designations against solidarity movements, and coordinated hasbara operations that penetrate major news organizations through seemingly independent advocacy groups, direct government influence campaigns, and algorithmic suppression of Palestinian content across social media platforms.

A comprehensive analysis of over 35,000 BBC content pieces reveals systematic bias in the broadcaster’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict, with evidence indicating Israeli deaths receive 33 times more coverage per fatality than Palestinian casualties, emotive language used disproportionately for Israeli victims, and historical context regarding Israel’s occupation consistently suppressed, while concerns about board member conflicts of interest, particularly regarding Robbie Gibb’s ownership of The Jewish Chronicle, and the controversial shelving of documentaries like “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack” raise questions about editorial independence and potential patterns of genocide denial in reporting. These documented disparities in coverage, language choices, and editorial decision-making have prompted over 400 media figures to demand accountability and call for regulatory intervention to address what BBC staff themselves describe as institutional bias that serves political rather than journalistic functions.

Multiple investigations by international journalists and fact-checking organizations have documented that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have systematically deployed false claims, fabricated evidence, and coordinated disinformation campaigns regarding Gaza operations, Palestinian civilians, historical events, and military justifications that have been repeatedly debunked by independent media, human rights organizations, and forensic analysis. From Netanyahu’s demonstrably false Congressional address claiming “practically no” civilian casualties in Rafah to the completely fabricated “beheaded babies” hoax that helped justify military operations killing thousands of actual Palestinian children, these documented falsehoods span emotionally manipulative propaganda, manufactured tunnel networks beneath hospitals, AI-generated bot campaigns, and the systematic assassination of Palestinian journalists to eliminate witnesses capable of contradicting official narratives – representing what critics describe as a comprehensive information warfare apparatus designed to manufacture consent for genocidal violence while obscuring evidence of war crimes.

Based on extensive documentation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and UN agencies, Gaza has become the deadliest place on earth for journalists, with over 230 media workers killed since October 2023—exceeding the combined journalist deaths from World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and Afghanistan—through what experts characterize as systematic targeting designed to conceal what international legal experts describe as genocidal crimes. This unprecedented campaign involves not only the direct assassination of journalists but also the systematic destruction of media infrastructure, targeting of entire journalist families, and posthumous smear campaigns against killed media workers, all aimed at eliminating witnesses and documentation of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

UN experts have expressed grave concern over what they term “scholasticide” in Gaza, where 95.2% of schools have been damaged or destroyed and all 19 universities and higher education institutions have been eliminated since October 2023, according to reports from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Global Education Cluster assessments. This systematic destruction of Palestinian educational infrastructure has left over 625,000 students without access to education, killed more than 5,479 students and 261 teachers, and represents what the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry characterizes as war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the deliberate targeting of cultural heritage sites and libraries that serve as repositories of Palestinian knowledge and identity.

According to reports from BBC and The Times of Israel, Israel calculated precise calorie requirements for Gaza’s population during its 2007-2010 blockade, determining that Palestinians needed 2,279 calories per person daily to avoid malnutrition while systematically restricting food supplies below these calculated minimums. This clinical approach to food control represents part of a broader, decades-long pattern of using agricultural restrictions and hunger as tools of political pressure against Palestinians, extending from the systematic appropriation of 4.6 million dunums of Palestinian farmland after 1948 to the current crisis where UN experts condemn Israel’s use of “starvation as a weapon of war” in Gaza.

Gaza’s healthcare system has faced systematic destruction since October 2023, with international medical agencies documenting what UN experts have termed “medicide” – the deliberate targeting and elimination of medical care as a weapon of war. With over 1,581 healthcare workers killed, 94% of hospitals damaged or destroyed, and 697 documented attacks on medical facilities, this represents one of the most comprehensive assaults on healthcare infrastructure in modern conflict history, creating what experts describe as a “mortality multiplier effect” that extends far beyond direct combat casualties to encompass preventable deaths from chronic diseases, maternal complications, and the complete collapse of medical services for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

Claims that Jeffrey Epstein worked as an intelligence asset have intensified following Tucker Carlson’s July 2025 allegations that the convicted sex offender operated on behalf of Israeli intelligence, prompting former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to categorically deny the accusations and call them part of “a vicious wave of slander and lies” against Israel. These espionage theories center on Epstein’s mysterious wealth sources, his controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement, extensive surveillance equipment discovered at his properties, high-level meetings with figures including current CIA Director William Burns, financial relationships with Israeli officials like Ehud Barak, connections to major financial institutions that processed billions in suspicious transactions, and allegations linking him to Israeli startup Carbyne and former Mossad-connected figures, though the Justice Department maintains there is no credible evidence supporting claims that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals or served as a spy.

The United States has come under heightened legal and moral scrutiny for its significant support of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. This backing, which includes over $17.9 billion in aid in 2024, diplomatic shielding at international forums, and actions against accountability mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court and the BDS movement, has been criticized by international courts and human rights organizations, some of which characterize the situation as genocidal. Legal experts argue that by providing both material and diplomatic support while resisting measures intended to hold Israel accountable, the US is complicit in alleged war crimes and undermines efforts to secure justice for Palestinian victims.

Germany’s substantial arms imports and exports alongside its systematic suppression of pro-Palestinian protests, continued military cooperation despite mounting evidence of starvation as a weapon of war, and high-level officials’ explicit endorsement of Israel’s actions, have raised serious questions about its potential complicity in what the International Court of Justice has deemed a “plausible” risk of genocide. The Genocide Convention’s Article III(e) explicitly criminalizes “complicity in genocide,” requiring only that an assisting state provide aid with knowledge of genocidal intent—a threshold that Germany’s conduct appears to meet. German media outlets have further contributed to this pattern of complicity through systematic bias in coverage, consistently framing Israeli actions as defensive while minimizing Palestinian casualties and suffering. Major German news organizations have been documented suppressing critical reporting on Israeli conduct, dismissing journalists who deviate from pro-Israel narratives, and amplifying Israeli government talking points while marginalizing Palestinian voices, effectively serving as an extension of Germany’s state-level support for Israeli policies.

According to reports from STV News and the UK government, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that Britain will recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel meets specific conditions including ending starvation in Gaza, agreeing to a ceasefire, and pledging no West Bank annexations. This conditional recognition framework, coordinated with European allies amid mounting legal pressure over potential genocide complicity, represents what critics argue is the instrumentalization of Palestinian statehood as diplomatic leverage to modify Israeli behavior rather than an affirmation of inherent Palestinian rights.

The extraordinary suffering of Palestinians today stems from a complex intersection of European imperialist ambitions and the instrumentalization of Jewish persecution, creating what scholars describe as one of history’s most tragic ironies where the suffering of one oppressed people has been used to justify the oppression of another. This dynamic traces back to early 20th-century European colonial planning through agreements like Sykes-Picot and the Balfour Declaration, while European guilt over the Holocaust—following centuries of systematic Jewish persecution that culminated in the murder of six million people—was redirected toward supporting a settler colonial project that has systematically displaced Palestinians, with contemporary European and American governments continuing to enable this dispossession through diplomatic, economic, and military support despite international legal condemnations.

The wars in Gaza (October 2023-present) and Ukraine (February 2022-present) have exposed stark disparities in international responses to civilian casualties, with Gaza experiencing 60,000-80,000 deaths compared to Ukraine’s 13,000-14,000 civilian fatalities while receiving dramatically less Western media coverage per casualty and facing minimal accountability mechanisms despite unprecedented targeting of protected facilities, systematic starvation campaigns, and civilian casualty rates of 80% that exceed even World War II’s proportional civilian harm. According to research by Airwars and analysis published in The Lancet, Gaza’s systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and coordinated attacks on hospitals, schools, and humanitarian workers represent warfare patterns fundamentally different from Ukraine’s conventional conflict dynamics, revealing how geopolitical alignments rather than humanitarian principles determine international law enforcement and media attention in contemporary conflicts.

Holocaust and genocide memorial institutions worldwide, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem, and the Wiener Holocaust Library, have maintained institutional silence on Gaza despite their explicit mandates to prevent genocide and honor the principle of “Never Again.” These organizations, founded to remember victims of ethnic genocide and prevent future atrocities, are systematically ignoring what 75% of genocide scholars have documented as an ongoing genocide in Gaza, revealing what researchers describe as the weaponization of Holocaust memory to shield Israel from accountability while abandoning their universal human rights principles through coordinated suppression campaigns targeting academics, strategic deployment of antisemitism accusations to silence legitimate criticism, and ethnic selectivity that prioritizes certain victims over others based on political rather than moral considerations.