The guardian view of Israel and Gaza: Trump can stop this horror. The alternative is unthinkable | Editorial

DOnald Trump wants a big foreign policy victory that integrates his tour through the Middle East this week. He could save and save lives by asking that Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire in exchange for the publication of all hostages held in Gaza. He could prefer to avoid the problem, but no other leader has the leverage effect to force his Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end this war. If Mr. Trump supports the current proposals of Israel instead, he will rely on a plan of total destruction.

According to the local health authorities, Israel's attacks have already killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza – the vast majority of them, many of them. Bakeries, hospitals and schools were wiped out. The help has been blocked for two months. Gaza faces famines. Last week, the Israeli officials informed that his armed forces would flatten the Gaza if there was no deal to liberate the hostages of the Hamas Gräulats of October 7, 2023, and the Palestinians force to network in a single “humanitarian area” or to flee abroad. Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, said that Gaza “completely destroyed” and “completely desperately” recognized “Palestinians,” there is no hope “. He said that the liberation of hostages is “not the most important”.

“I have rarely heard that the leader of a state sketched so clearly a plan that fits the legal definition of genocide,” said Josep Borrell, the former head of the EU foreign ministries. The International Court of Justice decided in January last year that there was a “plausible risk” of the genocide. Amnesty International, a special committee of the United Nations and leading scientists, including within Israel, have come to the conclusion that genocide takes place.

Many Israel, including people who are critical of the government, are outraged by the indictment. The United Nations genocide convention defines the crime as actions that “intention to destroy a national, ethnic, racist or religious group” with “intentions. It includes killing and adding life -threatening diseases. Open to the total destruction of the Gaza Strip, the persecution of the population as a goal as a battlefield and the destruction of the means with which life will be maintained not only after brutality, but as a deliberate project of elimination. Egypt and Jordan have refused to accept refugees and said they would otherwise be involved in war crimes.

The lawyer for the proof of the genocide is exceptionally high. Washington has declared four times four times four times in Iraq and Syria, Myanmar, Xinjiang in China and Sudan in the past decade. International law is slowly moving into the convention, including the United States and Great Britain, not only have to punish, but also prevent genocide. The court of public opinion draws its own conclusion. Pendants of Israel often argue that it is held an unfair standard. However, Israel not only has international protection, not only because of the history of the Holocaust, but also as a democracy and Western ally. His actions are made possible by huge US military help and political coverage. Now it is planning a gaza strip without Palestinians. What is that, if not genocidal? When will the United States and its allies act to stop horror if not now?

Mr. Trump's indifference to Palestinian life and interest in relocating them to transform Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” have encouraged the worst instincts of the Israeli government. But he could still apply the power, only he holds the annihilation. This is his chance to write history for the right reasons in the Middle East.

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