Yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that Israel would soon take up military operations against Gaza comparable to U.S. military operations against the Axis powers during the Second World War.
Graham said Israel should take Gaza by force from Hamas, where other Arabs could then “take over” control of the West Bank and Gaza.
“I think Israel’s come to conclude that they can’t achieve a goal of ending the war with Hamas that would be satisfactory to the safety of Israel and that they’re going to do in Gaza what we did in Tokyo and Berlin. Take the place by force and start over again, presenting a better future for the Palestinians, hopefully having the Arabs take over the West Bank and Gaza,” Graham said, referring to U.S. offensives in Western Europe and North Africa against Nazi Germany and its naval campaign against Imperial Japan during World War II.
The U.S. campaign against Japan also led to the controversial dropping of two atomic bombs against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to tens of thousands of civilian deaths and Japan’s unconditional surrender.
“All I can say is that you're going to see, I think, the next days and weeks, a military effort to destroy Hamas, akin to what we did in Tokyo and Berlin to destroy the Nazis and the Japanese,” Graham repeated.
At the same time, Graham applauded renewed aid efforts to the strip, where Israel said yesterday it is now facilitating daily humanitarian aid pauses for UN convoys to bring Gazans aid via humanitarian corridors.
The UN said Israel’s aid effort is welcomed, but still a “drop in the ocean” compared to Palestinians’ needs in the Strip, where Israel’s repeated aid blocks have created famine-like conditions. IDF soldiers shoot Palestinians seeking aid almost every day at U.S.- and Israel-backed aid distribution hubs, meanwhile, often killing them.
Israel has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians and wounded over 140,000 others since October 7, 2023, though some casualty estimates are much higher. The U.S., by providing military aid to Israel, has assisted this offensive, which many compare to ethnic cleansing.
Back in February, Trump said the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip,” and proposed turning Gaza into the “riviera of the Middle East,” where Gazans might have to leave the Strip, either temporarily or permanently, to facilitate that plan. Israeli officials continue to champion that riviera plan as a possible future for Gaza.
Following Graham's comments, Haaretz reported today that Netanyahu has plans to propose to gradually annex Gaza. Namely, Netanyahu will say Hamas has a few days to agree to a ceasefire; if Hamas does not agree, Israel will start annexing areas of the Gaza Strip.
(Shana Marshall)
