Donald Trump says he can bend Benjamin Netanyahu to his will, but the Israeli prime minister appears to be testing those limits. While the US president pursues what he calls a final deal with Iran, Netanyahu has ordered Israeli forces to seize control of 70% of Gaza, a dramatic expansion that would cram more than 2 million Palestinians into less than a third of territory already stripped bare by war.
The contradiction between Trump's stated peace objectives and Netanyahu's territorial ambitions has grown too stark to ignore. Israel's defense minister, Katz, has reaffirmed the government's intent to expel Palestinians from Gaza, framing forced displacement as "voluntary migration." Yet when homes are demolished, supplies of food and medicine are cut off, and military assault continues unabated, such language describes ethnic cleansing, not choice.
Netanyahu's escalation in Gaza comes as his government intensifies operations in Lebanon and stands firm against ceasefire terms. A Hamas military chief was killed this week, but the stated goal of destroying the organization remains unreached. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have expanded far beyond agreed-upon boundaries, attack Palestinians in undefined zones around their positions, and conduct deeper airstrikes into Gaza. Blame for the ceasefire's collapse has been pinned on Hamas by Trump's top diplomat for Middle East peace, even as Israel openly defies the terms.
The political calculation appears clear. October elections loom for Netanyahu and his coalition partners, who are polling poorly. Hard-line positions toward Gaza and Palestinians serve their domestic agenda. Yet declarations of intent to expel an entire population cannot be dismissed as mere campaign rhetoric given the devastation already inflicted.
The disparity in international response has been stark. Justified outrage erupted over the treatment of Western activists by far-right National Security Minister Ben-Gvir during a Gaza flotilla incident, yet Palestinian detainee abuse draws silence. When Israel was added to a UN blacklist of actors credibly suspected of sexual violence in conflict zones, diplomats protested. The same countries that condemned Russia's strike on a Romanian apartment block have muted their response to Gaza airstrikes that killed five children on the opening day of Eid al-Adha.
Germany expressed "concern" about Israel's military expansion in Gaza, but such toothless criticism carries no weight. European governments claim limited leverage over Russia while sitting as major trade partners and allies of Israel. If they genuinely valued rules-based order and moral accountability, that leverage could be deployed.
Trump's leverage remains untested. As Israel's chief funder and arms supplier, the US has the power to enforce compliance with its own peace plan. Whether Trump will use it remains the critical question. If he seeks a genuine peace legacy, it must begin with Gaza reconstruction and Palestinian security, not displacement.
Author James Rodriguez: "Netanyahu is gambling that Trump's Iran ambitions will distract from Gaza, and Europe's silence suggests he might be right."
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