The perks for genocide in Gaza

In “enemy territory” – Israel’s euphemism for Gaza – it is beyond satire to see the Israeli military destroying Gaza’s infrastructure in order to kill Palestinians, while building infrastructure for its soldiers. Ynet news has reported on the construction of a retreat for Israeli soldiers where they can relax, rest and enjoy comforts including access to water, medical and mental health services, all while committing genocide against Palestinians.

The report describes the facility as “a small beachfront retreat” which “offers soldiers a rare break from their gruelling missions in the Gaza Strip.” It is abnormal to think of luxuries just metres away from the victims of genocide in Gaza, but that is what Israel excels at: normalising the abnormal. And to add to the mockery, the report reads like an advert for a holiday resort. Although so far just confined to the military, Jared Kushner must be proud that his ideas about “prime Gaza beachfront real estate” have already been taken on board.

“Steak and other premium cuts are grilled to perfection”

While Israel is starving Palestinians to ensure that the genocide remains ongoing, Israeli soldiers at the retreat have “lavish breakfasts reminiscent of a hotel buffet”. The report notes that the table is set up on a green lawn. Soldiers have a barbecue area which offers more than standard fast food: “steak and other premium cuts are grilled to perfection.” They also have access to 99 per cent of the medication they may need, they have space for religious worship, a recreation area is under construction and, most importantly, there is a desalination plant that can produce 60,000 litres of drinking water daily.

Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, have blended into their surroundings of tents amid tons of rubble, where growing their own food is impossible and food itself is weaponised by Israel to enable it to commit massacres. Their places of worship have been decimated, as have their hospitals. The trauma Palestinians have been exposed to since the 1948 Nakba will require new descriptive terminology, and what of the mental health practitioners who have trauma of their own as a result of the genocide? Israel has destroyed all life in Gaza to construct a colonial society, starting with its soldiers.

Human Rights Watch’s latest report states that since 7 October 2023, Israel has deprived Palestinians of access to water, which was already scarce in Gaza. The World Health Organisation established a minimum of 50-100 litres of water per person daily to meet basic needs. By 2021, each Palestinian in Gaza could only access 83 litres per day. Since 7 October 2023, the amount has fallen to 2-9 litres per person daily, much less than the 15 litres established as a minimum in protracted emergency situations.

In October 2023, Israel’s then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a complete siege of Gaza: “no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed.”

No wonder a warrant for his arrest has been issued by the International Criminal Court.

In contrast to such deliberate deprivation to enhance the prospects of the genocide’s success, Israeli soldiers reap the opposite not as basic human rights, but as perks for committing genocide. Of course, the ultimate perk is the re-establishment of Zionist settlers in Gaza, for which the Israeli military is laying the foundations. The world, meanwhile, not only sits, but rests, idly by.

The perks for genocide in Gaza