Ep 16: Gaza City: The Path to Reoccupation

Netanyahu just green-lit the reoccupation of Gaza City. How did we reach this point? While media debates focus on whether photos tell the truth, I dig into what the official records actually show. From UN famine statistics to Israeli cabinet statements to military warnings, this episode connects the dots to understand the documented reality behind the headlines. 

Transcript

Raheel Khan: 0:01

Hey everyone. Welcome back to Khannecting the Dots. If you caught my last episode, you know I said we'd be covering two urgent stories, one here in the US and one in the Middle East, before we return to our deep dive and Doge and the agencies it gutted. We've already covered the Texas redistricting fight. So in this episode, we're turning our focus back to Gaza. Because just this past Thursday on August 7th, something happened that is impossible to ignore. After more than 10 hours of cabinet meetings, Netanyahu Security Cabinet approved the first phase of what they're calling the reoccupation of Gaza City. This isn't just another military operation. This is a crucial step toward the end game. I've been tracking on this podcast for months, and it carries immediate, devastating stakes. Roughly 1 million Palestinians most already displaced, most already starving will now be forced to move again. The systematic starvation, the shooting of hungry civilians, the propaganda campaign to cover it up. It's all been building to this moment. The plan will evacuate Gaza City in what they're calling a five month military operation. The decision came despite hundreds of protestors gathering outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem. Hostage families even sailed towards Gaza's border in what they called an SOS Mission, pleading with the government not to sacrifice their loved ones. Even Netanyahu's own military chief, along with 19 former top Israeli military intelligence and police officials opposed the plan. Warning it would endanger hostages and trap Israel in permanent occupation. So how did we get here? How did we reach a point where starving children became acceptable Collateral damage? Where ethnic cleansing gets branded as military necessity? Because the Israeli propaganda machine has been working in overdrive, making the unthinkable seem acceptable, and the undeniable seem questionable. Before we focus in on that propaganda machine. Let's start with the facts. The raw numbers that months of spin have tried to make you ignore. Since May 27th, 2025, nearly 1400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food, trying to get aid to survive. That's according to the UN Human Rights Office. 859 of those deaths happened at or near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites. Those US and Israel supported food distribution points. Another 514 were killed along aid convoy routes. 197 Palestinians have died from starvation and malnutrition, including 96 children. From March 2nd through May 21st of this year, that's 80 days, israel imposed a complete aid blockade. During those 80 days. Gaza needed about 40,000 trucks just for basic survival. They got zero. When the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation finally started operating in late May, they set up exactly four sites for 2.3 million people. And multiple sources, israeli soldiers, American contractors, Palestinian survivors, have all documented that those sites became what one Israeli soldier called"killing Fields". That's a lot of numbers, but here's the thing, none of those are disputed claims. They're documented facts, and this week's decision to occupy Gaza City with the tacit approval of the US government shows that the numbers don't matter when you have a propaganda machine designed to sow doubt on them all. So how do you make people ignore systematic starvation happening in real time? How do you provide cover for shooting hungry civilians? You build a sophisticated system that weaponizes legitimate media criticism and uses it to dismiss the evidence entirely. Let's break it down using a Wall Street Journal piece from July 30th as a case study. First- real media errors are exploited to dismiss genuine starvation evidence. Eitan Fischberger’s article, gaza starvation photos tell a thousand lies" actually make some legitimate points. For example, Mohammed al-Mutawaaq. An 18 month old whose image went viral, does have cerebral palsy. The New York Times initially said he was born healthy. But later corrected their story to acknowledge his preexisting conditions. Same with the Osama al-Raqab. A five-year-old with cystic fibrosis evacuated to Italy. Some outlets use his photos without mentioning his underlying condition. Those are real journalism problems that deserve criticism. But here's what gets conveniently ignored. Children with cerebral palsy or cystic fibrosis aren't automatically malnourished. But they are more vulnerable to starvation when food is deliberately withheld. When a child with cerebral palsy is also malnourished, that's not either or, that's double jeopardy. These kids need specialized nutrition and medical support. Take that away through a blockade, and they deteriorate fast. But for Israeli apologists, legitimate criticism of incomplete captions becomes a foundation for dismissing everything. One missing detail becomes“All starvation photos are propaganda.” Second blame gets shifted from policy and armed gangs to UN laziness and refusal to deliver aid. Fischberger writes about Israeli soldiers showing him"nearly 600 trucks worth of supplies" that the UN was supposedly refusing to distribute. Israel also claims they can't get aid to people because Hamas steals everything. Here's, what he doesn't say. The reason the UN can't safely disperse that aid is because Israeli back gangs systematically loot, kidnap, and murder relief workers. Back in 2024, the Washington Post obtained internal UN documents showing these gangs may be operating with passive, if not active benevolence from Israeli forces. When relief trucks travel, on IDF approved safety corridors. They get attacked by armed gangs while Israeli soldiers watch. If drivers try to leave the designated corridors, Israeli forces shoot at them. When Palestinian police try to protect convoys, Israeli forces open fire on them too. The claim that it's Hamas doing all the looting. There's little to no evidence. Back in May, Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Program was asked directly by CBS news if Hamas was stealing food. It's not just the World Food Program saying this, in July, 2025, the Times of Israel reported that an internal U-S-A-I-D analysis, completed in late June, reviewed 156 reported incidents of aid theft or loss since October, 2023. And found no evidence that Hamas consistently stole US or UN funded aid. Most losses stemmed from lawlessness, breakdowns in civil order, or other armed groups. One striking data point, at least 44 of the 156 incidents were either directly or indirectly due to IDF actions. State department officials and the IDF pushed back on the U-S-A-I-D findings without providing verifiable proof of Hamas looting. So yes, there are trucks sitting there, but not because the UN is incompetent or because Hamas is stealing everything. It's because the delivery environment is made impossible, and then aid groups are blamed for failing to deliver. Now this may sound difficult to believe. Israel controlling our enabling gangs in Gaza that are tied to the looting and violence, really? Well. This past June, Netanyahu essentially admitted it. He posted a video in Hebrew saying;"On the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that opposed Hamas. What's wrong with that?" One of these gangs known as the Popular Forces is led by an accused criminal Yasser Abu Shabab. And he has at least 100 armed men, based out of Rafa, in Southern Gaza. They claim to guard aid trucks going to the GHF sites. But the European Council on Foreign Relations has described Abbu Shabab as a leader of a criminal gang, widely accused of looting, not guarding the aid trucks. So why would Netanyahu's government do this? He says it's to counter and eventually replace Hamas. And if you remember back in episode 12, I talked about how Israel essentially created and funded Hamas decades ago to weaken the PLO. Looks like they're at it again. What's definition of crazy? Again, doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results? Or maybe, Netanyahu and his coalition aren't expecting different results. Maybe it's pure calculation. Long-term consequences be damned. Because staying in power matters more than the suffering their choices inflict. Third, selective statistics and cumulative totals are used to obscure current starvation policy. Fischberger boasts about 1.86 million tons of food delivered to Gaza since October, 2023. Presenting it as proof Israel isn't starving Palestinians. But here's the sleight of hand. that's a cumulative total from the entire war with most of the aid delivered early on. By late 2024, the reality on the ground told a very different story. On November 21st, 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and defense Minister Gallant, specifically for using starvation as a weapon of war. Israel's government kept denying a starvation policy even though finance minister Bezalel Smotrich had already said back in August, 2024, that starving 2 million Gazan's might be"justified and moral". Then after unilaterally ending a ceasefire, Israel imposed the 80 day total, aid blockade, the longest and most crushing to date. Remember during that time, as we discussed earlier, Gaza would've needed at least 40,000 trucks of food and supplies just for basic survival. Zero came through. While this blockade continued, Netanyahu and his allies ratcheted up their rhetoric. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, during the blockade said,"as long as our hostages are languishing in the tunnels, there is no reason for a single gram of food to enter Gaza". A week later, after meeting with Republicans at Mar-a-Lago, Ben-Gvir said US Republicans supported bombing food and aid Depots. By July, he doubled down again."There is no real hunger in Gaza. If they were hungry, they would've returned the hostages home. I support starving Hamas in Gaza", conflating the entire population of Gaza with Hamas. In May, 2025, Smotrich returned to the theme."Israel should permit only the minimum necessary aid so that the world does not stop us and accuse us of war crimes". That same day. Netanyahu said"Israel must avoid a point of starvation for practical and diplomatic reasons". Warning that even close allies"cannot handle pictures of mass starvation." These aren't fringe voices. This is Netanyahu himself and two key members of his coalition. Voices he depends on to retain power, openly justifying starvation as policy. And let's be clear, it was international relief agencies, not Israel, scrambling to deliver this aid, with Israel's permission. Despite a well-documented pattern of targeting aid workers and civilians at food distribution sites. Remember the bombing of the World Central Kitchen convoy, or the Flour Massacre? These weren't one-offs, but part of a larger pattern. So when pundits repeat that 1.86 million tons line, remember they're using old numbers to mask a current policy of engineered deprivation. It's like locking someone in a burning house, tossing them a single bucket of water and calling yourself a firefighter. Fourth, the timing of publication provides academic cover just as policy escalates. Every single piece of evidence I've mentioned existed before the Wall Street Journal article. Fischberger wrote his piece knowing Israeli officials had openly discussed starving 2 million people as"justified and moral". He published it knowing soldiers had confessed to systematic killing. He published it knowing American contractors had testified about war crimes. That the Israeli government was backing armed gangs, attacking aid trucks. But even with all that evidence, here's something that's even more damning. The actions of Israeli soldiers themselves. While media critics argue about photo captions, iDF soldiers have been live streaming their own atrocities. Investigations by the Washington Post. Al Jazeera and others have verified soldiers posting videos, showing among other things; a reservist unit hosting a farewell barrage, four minutes of nonstop tank and machine gun fire pulverizing a Gaza neighborhood, with soldiers cheering while they film. Homes set on fire while on camera with troops narrating as they torch rooms describing being told to burn houses. Looting and demeaning families belongings, soldiers rifling through private homes, bedrooms and clothing drawers, including women's underwear, mocking what they find and sharing it as content. Clips of soldiers posing with bodies or calling openly for expulsion and resettlement. Rhetoric, legal experts say, can breach international humanitarian law. And the military knows it's a problem. As far back as February, 2024, the IDF Chief of Staff, told Troops not to film revenge videos. You can't claim something as enemy propaganda when the perpetrators are the ones posting it. And the digital trail travels. Just last month, Belgium police detained two Israeli soldiers at a music festival after NGOs flagged their Gaza videos to prosecutors. The same thing happened in Brazil back in January of this year. The evidence is so overwhelming that soldiers are now facing legal consequences across international borders. But despite all this, pieces like the Wall Street Journal opinion article exist. Why? Because it's part of a coordinated propaganda machine deployed everywhere. Cable news pundits dismissing hunger photos. Social media influencers calling starvation reports staged. Politicians waving away evidence as Hamas propaganda. They do this knowing better. This isn't ignorance, it's deliberative narrative management. Which brings us to what happened with Netanyahu and the security cabinet last Thursday, August 7th. They approved the plan to occupy Gaza City. The first phase of what everyone understands is a broader reoccupation Netanyahu summarized it as a five point plan. Number one, Hamas is disarmed. Number two, all hostages freed. Number three, Gaza demilitarized. Number four, Israel retains overriding security control. And number five, a non Israeli peaceful civilian administration. On the fifth point Netanyahu said it cannot be Hamas or the PLO, suggesting a non- israeli administration drawn from Arab partners. The vote came after more than 10 hours of meetings, but perhaps most telling was the internal conflict. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned the plan would endanger hostages and risk permanent military rule over 2 million Palestinians. Cabinet ministers shouted him down. This is the same man who said the IDF had already met and even exceeded the operations objectives in Gaza. When your own top general says the mission is complete and warns the next step will backfire, and you shout him down, that tells you this move is about something other than security. When Zamir stood his ground, Netanyahu essentially told him, if you don't like the plan resign. Regionally, the pushback was immediate. Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt all rejected the plan, calling it forced displacement, disguised as diplomacy. Jordan's foreign minister called it a recipe for endless war. Egypt warned it would blow up regional stability. Saudi officials made it clear they will not be part of any administration imposed by an occupying force. The international response from the west? Stuck in platitudes, Germany, finally after two years of atrocities, announced an arms freeze. The UK Prime Minister issued"strong condemnations" saying, this move brings"only more bloodshed". The master of stating the obvious. At least they made an attempt to sound concerned though. Trump's administration. They simply said, it's up to Israel to make its own decisions. So here's what I want you to take away from today's episode. The propaganda campaign was never about media accuracy. It was about providing cover for systematic atrocity. While pundits nitpicked photo captions, and dismissed starvation as staged Netanyahu was positioning himself for this moment. Moving forward with the deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing. Last week's decision isn't the end, it's the beginning of the final phase. Remember the so-called humanitarian city plan in Rafa? The one critics around the world called a concentration camp? Convenient, isn't it? That Gaza City is in the north. The forced evacuation sends people South. Three of the aid distribution sites are in the south. Israel backed gangs operate most freely in the south. The concentration plan isn't theoretical anymore. It's happening. It's just not going to be a"humanitarian city" with all the infrastructure that Katz had envisioned because that was"too expensive" for Netanyahu. So now conditions are gonna be bare bones, harsher, more coercive, designed to make life unlivable and push people to leave the country entirely. And Israel isn't hiding this. They're advertising it openly, using words like forced relocation, voluntary departure, starvation, and total destruction. Yet somehow when people point this stuff out, they're the ones accused of spreading propaganda. The real propaganda isn't coming from Hamas. It's coming from the people telling you to ignore what Israeli officials are saying, in their own words. The evidence is undeniable. The only question left is what we call this what it is. State directed ethnic cleansing, happening in real time. With the world's most powerful countries, providing the weapons, the diplomatic cover, and the narrative that excuses it. Naming it isn't just semantics. It's the first step to breaking the cycle of denial that allows it to continue. Until we're willing to name it, we can't stop it. If you are willing, then act on it. Demand your representative stop funding Israel. Donate to organizations documenting these crimes. Support the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, and boycott Israeli products. You can even use apps like Boycat to identify which products support Israel and which don't. Whatever you do, don't let people dismiss this as"complicated" or"there's nothing we can do". That's the final layer of the propaganda. Thank you for listening to this episode. If you found it informative and it helped you connect some dots in the Middle East conflict, please share and leave a review. Consider subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time. Stay curious, stay critical, and stay connected.