How Israels dehumanisation of Palestinians stokes the slaughter in Gaza

As Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew from the Bible to paint all Palestinians as enemies of the Jewish people.

"Remember what Amalek has done to you," he said, referring to an ancient people mentioned in the Bible that the people of Israel are commanded to fight and destroy.

Since then, ministers, MPs, journalists and other public figures have continued the campaign to dehumanise Palestinians. Even Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has said there are no innocent people in Gaza, a common refrain legitimising the bombing and starvation meted out on the entire enclave.

On Tuesday, Tally Gotliv, an MP from Netanyahu’s Likud party, was interviewed by Israel’s Channel 7 about the fresh military operation in Gaza that is designed to occupy the whole enclave and force its population into a small compound in the south. 

Gotliv noted that the operation was already underway, as Gaza has been subjected to a two-month total siege. "Even before military action, it's starvation. After all, international law does not apply to terrorist organisations," Gotliv said.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

According to Gotliv, Israel needs to starve Gaza because: "There are no non-combatants in Gaza. Everyone is responsible."

"Right now, we don't have to give them any crumb or grain and I'm ready to be quoted all over the world. Which country feeds its enemies?" she added.

Gotliv's remarks are one of many examples of public figures promoting the campaign of dehumanisation, and Israeli soldiers of various ranks are also joining in.

On Tuesday, an Israeli shared a conversation on Facebook she overheard between two soldiers at a railway station.

"Two soldiers in civilian clothes, one with crutches. They are talking about Gaza," the Israeli wrote.

"Bro', it was like a computer game. We gave them bait. We opened cans of food and put them on the road," she quoted the soldiers as saying.

"They came right away, and we just sprayed everyone, people flew in the air. Come on, we talk about it like this, suddenly it sounds criminal."

Israeli historian Lee Mordechai, who has compiled a vast database of the war in Gaza, wrote in his report that, "the dehumanisation of Palestinians is now normative, pervasive and obvious in many hundreds of images and videos, almost all of which were uploaded by IDF soldiers to social media".

One of the most viral themes among Israeli soldiers during the war are videos in which they wear the clothes and underwear of Palestinian women, which they looted during the takeover of homes throughout the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian women testified that soldiers sexually assaulted them during the army's raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya.

This dehumanising trend is contributing to the staggering death toll in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians.

The commander of a reconnaissance unit was recently recorded telling his troops: "Everyone you meet is an enemy. You recognise a figure, we apply fire, destroy, move on." 

The reconnaissance unit was responsible for the killing of 15 rescue workers and paramedics in Tel a-Sultan near Rafah in March.

Forensic evidence suggests they were executed. After killing the aid workers, soldiers buried the bodies and their vehicles in a mass grave.

Under international scrutiny, the commander decided to retire from the army rather than be forced out.

"There was no moral failure in the force's actions, the opposite is true," he wrote to the unit’s soldiers in his farewell letter.

middleeasteye.net