“Genocide plan” in Gaza: the Guardian calls out Trump on his historic responsibility
In an editorial of rare severity, the British daily The Guardian Calls US President Donald Trump to use his influence to put an end to the Israeli military climbing in Gaza, denouncing a “total destruction project” which, in his words, is increasingly similar to a genocidal company. While Trump begins a tour in the Middle East, the newspaper believes that it is “the only leader with the necessary lever” to force Israel to accept a sustainable ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages. Not acting would come back, according to The Guardianto offer a blank check to the “unthinkable”.
An assumed crushing war
More than 52,000 people have been identified by local health authorities since October 7, 2023, mainly civilians. The newspaper describes a catastrophic situation: destroyed vital infrastructure, humanitarian aid blocked for two months, imminent famine. The intention assumed to provoke the moral and physical collapse of the Palestinian population is no longer in doubt, in view of the chilling declarations of Israeli officials.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Finance Minister, said he wanted to make Gaza “completely desperate”, adding that the release of the hostages “is not the priority”. These words, of rare political violence, have caused indignant international reactions. “Rarely have I heard the leader of a state so clearly exhibit a plan corresponding to the legal definition of the genocide,” reacted Josep Borrell, former head of European diplomacy, quoted by The Guardian.
A genocide that no longer says its name
In this observation, The Guardian Add the warnings of international experts and bodies. In January 2024, the newspaper said, the International Court of Justice considered that there was a “plausible risk” of genocide in Gaza. From, The Guardian Stresses that organizations like Amnesty International, a special United Nations Commission, as well as many academics – including in Israel – have concluded that genocidal acts are indeed in progress.
These accusations, notes the British daily, arouse indignation within Israel, including in critical voices of the government. However, as recalled The Guardianthe criteria posed by the United Nations Convention for the Prevention of Genocide are unequivocal: these are acts committed with the intention of “destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”, in particular by murders or living conditions making their survival impossible. Consequently, continues the newspaper, openly considering the total destruction of Gaza, seeking to expel its population not as a consequence of the conflict but as a strategic objective, and destroy the very means of its subsistence, are not a simple brutality, but of a deliberate project of elimination.
Egypt and Jordan have also explicitly refused to welcome Palestinian refugees, saying that they would not participate in a population displacement which would be akin to a war crime.
The moment of truth for Trump
The newspaper finally recalls that the States, as signatories of the Convention for the Prevention of Genocide, have the obligation not only to punish, but above all to prevent these crimes. He accuses the Western powers, the United States in mind, of allowing this scenario by their massive military support and their deafening diplomatic silence. Criticizing the cynicism of Donald Trump, who had mentioned the idea of moving the Palestinians to transform Gaza into “Riviera du Middle East”, The Guardian believes that the American president now has a unique opportunity to influence the course of history. Otherwise, he will be a silent accomplice of an unprecedented moral and human disaster.
