Israeli lawmakers demand military destroy all food and energy resources in Gaza 

On December 31, eight Israeli government coalition lawmakers on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee sent a letter to Defense Minister Israel Katz, urging him to intensify the siege of Gaza – not just in the north, but across the territory.

Referring to the north, where Israel is conducting a tight siege and ethnic cleansing campaign, they bemoan that “the IDF does not regard, as is custom in international law and all western armies, those who remain as enemies”. In other words, they suggest shooting everyone who is there, after the so-called “humanitarian evacuation” is supposedly complete. This is the euphemism for the ethnic cleansing campaign. 

They demand three basic points of action, after the “encirclement and evacuation of the population:” 

1. Remote elimination of all energy sources, that is fuel, solar panels and any relevant means (pipes, cables, generators etc.)
2. Elimination of all food sources including warehouses, water and all relevant means (water pumps etc.)
3. Remote elimination of anyone who moves in the area and does not exit with a white flag during the days of the effective siege. 

“After these actions and the days of siege upon those who remain, IDF must enter gradually and conduct a full cleansing of the enemy nests.”

The “remote elimination” apparently means the usage of aerial bombings without a physical presence on the ground. 

The letter was sent by Amit Halevy [Likud], Nissim Vaturi [Likud], Ariel Kellner [Likud], Osher Shekalim [Likud], Zvi Sukkot [Religious Zionism], Ohad Tal [Religious Zionism], Limor Son Har-Melech [Jewish Power], and Avraham Bezalel [Shas]. Itai Epshtain notes on X that Ariel Kellner (one of the signatories) is Chair of the All Party Group on Israel-EU Parliament relations and a “frequent visitor to Brussels”. While the committee as a whole includes 17 members, some of whom are also opposition members, the lawmakers here constitute the more right-wing half. Nonetheless, these lawmakers represent a general cross-section of the Israeli governmental political spectrum. This is, as is often noted, clearly the most right-wing government Israel has had, but still, it has its spectrum – from the Likud on the ‘left’ to Jewish Power on the ‘right’, as is also represented roughly in the committee signatories.

The letter bemoans that Hamas still seems to have a presence in areas that IDF has already “conquered”, and that this is costing Israeli soldiers’ blood. In line with the Generals’ plan, the letter calls for a full, “decisive victory”, rather than a “war of attrition”. 

Here is the letter in full – this is a verbatim translation: 

Concerning: the operational plan in the Gaza Strip

We approach you, as members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, so that you re-examine the military operations in the Gaza Strip, due to its harsh results until now and prospects for the future. We shall thus specify:

1. The military operation in the Gaza Strip, as it was presented to us at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee by the former Defense Minister even before the beginning of the ground operation on October 27, 2023, and as it has been conducted since, on the ground, does not allow for the objectives as determined by the governmental echelon: Toppling the governance and military capabilities of Hamas, and they are indeed not materializing until today, despite dealing with a small territory and an enemy that does not possess tools or capabilities of a modern army. 

2. As was mentioned by the [IDF] Chief of Staff publicly, IDF operates with the method of local raids, a method which lacks the central component of a guerilla war of this kind: control. Effective control of the territory and the population is the only means towards cleansing enemy lines from the strip, and naturally towards decisive victory, rather than treading [water] in a war of attrition, where the side that is most worn is Israel. Therefore we end up inserting our soldiers again and again into neighborhoods and alleys that were already conquered by them many times, places which IDF leaders have declared as such, where Hamas divisions were dismantled and toppled, [declared] cleansed of enemies. (And in these same places we pay a dear and intolerable price in blood).  

3. From the date October 6, 2024, in the north of the Gaza Strip, south of the Mefalsim [Jabalia] corridor, a one-way operation ensued, one which included encirclement and evacuation of the population southwards. We all hoped that this was the beginning of military actions that would bring the required change, yet it seems that this operation is not being conducted properly: that is, after the encirclement and humanitarian evacuation, the IDF does not regard, as is custom in international law and all western armies, those who remain, as enemies. And is again risking the lives of our soldiers by entering the dense residential territory.  

4. After encirclement and evacuation of the population, the instructions to IDF need to be clear: 

(1) Remote elimination of all energy sources, that is fuel, solar panels and any relevant means (pipes, cables, generators etc.)

(2) Elimination of all food sources including warehouses, water and all relevant means (water pumps etc.)

(3) Remote elimination of anyone who moves in the area and does not exit with a white flag during the days of the effective siege. 

After these actions and the days of siege upon those who remain, IDF must enter gradually and conduct a full cleansing of the enemy nests.

5. This should be done in the northern Gaza Strip, and similarly in any other territory: encirclement, evacuation of the population to a humanitarian zone, and effective siege until surrender or full elimination of the enemy. This is how every army acts, and so must the IDF act. 

Despite repeated questions and requests at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, until today we have not received satisfactory answers from IDF representatives at the committee, concerning why they do not act as is required, to determine victory over Hamas as an ‘end of operations state’ concerning the fighting, and what the plans are for the future. Therefore we ask for your immediate intervention in response to these questions, as well as the issuance of suitable instructions to IDF in order to reach a decisive victory and a cessation of unnecessary risking of our soldiers’ lives. 

Copy: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chair of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Yuli Edelstein. 

[Signatories]: Amit Halevy [Likud], Nissim Vattori [Likud], Ariel Kellner [Likud], Osher Shekalim [Likud], Zvi Sukkot [Religious Zionism], Ohad Tal [Religious Zionism], Limor Son Har-Melech [Jewish Power], Avraham Bezalel [Shas].