{"id":71980,"date":"2025-08-11T16:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T20:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=71980"},"modified":"2025-08-11T17:00:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T21:00:25","slug":"from-eradicating-hamas-to-erasing-gaza-the-logic-of-a-colonial-war-and-canadas-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/71980\/from-eradicating-hamas-to-erasing-gaza-the-logic-of-a-colonial-war-and-canadas-role\/","title":{"rendered":"From \u201cEradicating Hamas\u201d to Erasing Gaza: The Logic of a Colonial War \u2014 and Canada\u2019s Role"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On August 7\u20138, 2025<\/strong>, Israel\u2019s security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City<\/strong> \u2014 home to approximately 900,000 people<\/strong> \u2014 and forcibly relocate its population to camps in Deir al-Balah and other central Gaza areas. This is part of a broader strategy for the complete occupation of the Gaza Strip<\/strong> (AP News<\/a>, Axios<\/a>, The Guardian<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

Canada\u2019s official response was familiar<\/strong>: a statement of \u201ccondemnation\u201d from the Prime Minister\u2019s Office and Global Affairs Canada \u2014 without any accompanying sanctions, arms suspensions, or trade restrictions<\/strong>. The same posture has accompanied every significant escalation of Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza since October 2023, allowing the violence to continue with impunity.<\/p>\n\n

When Netanyahu speaks of the \u201cfull occupation\u201d of Gaza, we must take him literally. Israeli leaders have framed their mission as the eradication of Hamas \u2014 but the reality on the ground reveals a far broader goal: the eradication of Gaza as a place where human life can exist. This is not a sudden shift, but the latest phase in a long-running colonial war<\/strong> against the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n\n

Canada\u2019s diplomatic condemnations do nothing to interrupt this process. By maintaining trade, security cooperation, and political cover, Ottawa is not an observer \u2014 it is an enabler<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

The Nature of a Colonial War<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

A colonial war is not a conventional conflict between armies. It is a violent, ongoing social process aimed at permanently subjugating and replacing an entire people. Such wars may pause, but they never truly end; escalation can resume at any time.<\/p>\n\n

In these wars, the \u201cenemy\u201d is not just a political movement or armed group. The entire occupied population is treated as a potential threat. Every civilian becomes a target; the destruction of their social, political, and economic structures is part of the strategy. The purpose is not only to defeat armed resistance but to make the territory unlivable for its original inhabitants.<\/p>\n\n

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By Ashraf Amra – UNRWA: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The Step-by-Step Logic of Erasure<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza has followed a transparent chain of cause and effect:<\/p>\n\n

    \n
  1. Pretext<\/strong> \u2013 Declare the aim to \u201ceradicate Hamas\u201d to justify overwhelming military force.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Destruction<\/strong> \u2013 Bombard and bulldoze civilian infrastructure: homes, hospitals, water and power systems, farms, and bakeries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Starvation<\/strong> \u2013 Restrict aid and destroy agricultural capacity, manufacturing famine as a weapon of war.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Displacement<\/strong> \u2013 Push Palestinians into smaller and smaller areas, now culminating in the planned removal of Gaza City\u2019s 900,000 residents to central Gaza camps.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Permanent Control<\/strong> \u2013 Establish military bases, \u201csecurity outposts,\u201d and settlements to prevent return and cement Israeli control.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

    Each step leads to complete annihilation; physical destruction causes starvation. Starvation leads to displacement, which in turn results in permanent occupation and annexation by the occupying power.<\/p>\n\n

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    https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

    Canada\u2019s Complicity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

    For two years, Canada has watched this sequence unfold and responded with the same three tools:<\/p>\n\n