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On February 7, PM Netanyahu explained the goal of the fighting goes beyond military defeat, to destruction of the civilian apparatus: "There is no alternative to the military collapse [of Hamas]. There will not be a civilian collapse [of Hamas rule] without a military one."
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This week's killing of Gaza police and community leaders involved in securing food aid convoys is one example of what working towards "civilian collapse" looks like. x.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1770499708034613257 So is just shooting people at food aid distribution sites.
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But more tellingly, this awful phrase "civilian collapse" seems to have come into conversation as a policy proposal. B'Tselem traced it to retired Major General Giora Eiland, fmr head of the National Security Council, writing in Yedioth Aharonot in November.
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Per B'Tselem, "Eiland holds no official position currently and is not among the policymakers responsible for the strategy pursued in the Gaza Strip at present, but his statements are an accurate reflection of it." btselem.org/gaza_strip/20231207_humanitarian_catastrophe_as_policy
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Eiland: "We must not, simply must not, adopt the American narrative that gives us ‘permission’ to fight only Hamas fighters instead of doing the right thing - fighting against the opposing system in its entirety…"
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"Civilian collapse" is an alternative strategy to pursuing primarily the military collapse of Hamas. It should be chosen, Eiland argues, despite American urging to the contrary.
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The "poor women" of Gaza (Eiland encloses this phrase in scare quotes) "are all the mothers, sisters or wives of Hamas murderers … they are part of the infrastructure that supports the organization"
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"If they [the 'poor' women] go through a humanitarian disaster; then presumably, some Hamas fighters and more junior commanders will begin to understand that the war is futile and that it is better to prevent irreversible harm to their families."
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The path to victory runs through epidemics and humanitarian disaster, Eiland urges, "However difficult, this must not deter us. After all, severe epidemics in the southern Gaza Strip will bring victory closer and reduce casualties among IDF soldiers"
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Among all the possible approaches and talking points, Netanyahu remembered this one "civilian collapse" and named it as his path to victory three months later.
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When we trace the rationales that Israeli government officials used to proceed as Gaza starved and suffered epidemics, I think we will return to "civilian collapse" to understand that this was desired, chosen, and planned.


