Cooperate or get expelled — Israeli leaflets to Gaza's defiant Palestinians

Israel has dropped leaflets over the besieged Gaza, featuring images of hawkish Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, alongside verses from the Quran and demanding Palestinians to cooperate with Israeli authorities or face "expulsion."

The leaflets are seen by Palestinians and campaigners as part of Israel's 16-month genocidal war on Gaza and the messages conveyed in them are particularly alarming.

One of the statements included in the leaflets declares, "the world map will not change if all the people of Gaza cease to exist." The chilling assertion in the leaflets include: "No one will feel for you, and no one will ask about you. You have been left alone to face your inevitable fate."

Israel is known for employing psychological tactics to instill fear and compliance among the defying Palestinian population.

The leaflets carrying Israeli propaganda and psy-op exhorted Palestinians of the tiny coastal enclave to not rely on neighbouring Arab countries, saying, "Neither America nor Europe care about Gaza in any way. Even your Arab countries, which are now our allies, provide us with money and weapons while sending you only shrouds."

"This text is an admission of multiple war crimes — openly threatening an entire population with genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement," said Jehad AbusalimExecutive Director of the Institute for Palestine Studies.

The text promised aid in exchange for collaboration in an effort to terrorise Palestinians as well as sow division amongst the war-weary Palestinians who have seen some 62,000 Palestinians killed, mostly kids and women, over 115,000 wounded and millions uprooted by Israel's genocidal war since October 2023.

The paper continued: "After the events that have taken place, the temporary ceasefire, and before the implementation of Trump’s mandatory plan — which will impose forced displacement upon you whether you accept it or not — we have decided to make one final appeal to those who wish to receive aid in exchange for cooperating with us. We will not hesitate for a moment to provide assistance."

"There is little time left. The game is almost over. Whoever wants to save themselves before it is too late, we are here, and we will remain here until the Day of Judgment," the leaflets claimed.

"These leaflets serve as a message of intimidation and terror from the Israeli army to Gaza's residents," said Ramy Abdu, chairman of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

"They include distorted religious texts manipulated for psychological impact, along with direct threats of forced displacement and the implementation of Trump's coercive plan," Abdu added.

Trump's dangerous plan

It comes after Trump's repeated claims that US would "take over" Gaza and ethnically cleanse its population to redevelop the enclave into "the Riviera of the Middle East".

The idea has been vehemently rejected by the Arab world and other nations. Under the plan, Trump says, Palestinians of Gaza will have no right to return.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, US Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff tried to walk back from parts of Trump's dangerous plan, saying it is not about "eviction."

"That doesn't mean that we're on an eviction plan," Witkoff told a conference in Miami.

"When the president talks about this, it means he wants to shake up everyone's thinking and think about what is compelling and what is the best solution for the Palestinian and Gazan people who live there," he added.

"For instance, do they want to live in a home there, or would they rather have an opportunity to resettle in some sort of better place, to have jobs, upside and financial prospects," Witkoff said.

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Source: TRT