"Cleaning race in northern Gaza"...Israel's All Defence Blasts Its Troops

Israel's former defense minister has slammed his forces for "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians in northern Gaza.

In Israel, which suffered the Holocaust during World War II, it is highly unusual for a former minister to denounce the government and military with sensitive expressions such as "ethnic cleansing."

According to CNN and Reuters, former Defense Secretary Moshe Yaalon recently interviewed Israeli media and claimed that hard-liners in the far-right cabinet led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are trying to drive Palestinians out of northern Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements.

In an interview with local Democratic television on the 30th of last month, Ayalon said Israel is losing its identity as a liberal democracy and becoming a "corrupt, leprosy fascist messiah state."

"Look at northern Gaza," he said, insisting that "conquest, annexation, and ethnic cleansing" were underway. They (Israeli forces) are currently operating in Zabalia. And it's essentially cleaning up the Arabs."

In an interview with Channel 12, he also said, "There's nothing else to say other than that there's actually a race clean-up going on."

When a reporter said his expression reminded him of a "dark period" in history, he said, "That's right. I also used this term intentionally to raise awareness," he replied.

Here, the 'dark period' refers to the period of World War II when Nazi Germany committed the Holocaust.

Former Minister Yaalon also repeated this claim in an interview with public broadcaster Khan on the 1st.

"I have an obligation to warn you about what's happening there, whether it's being hidden from us," he said. "At the end of the day, war crimes are happening."

Former Minister Yaalon served as Minister of Defense in the Netanyahu regime between 2013 and 2016 after serving as Chief of Military Staff.

Since his tenure as minister, he has criticized Netanyahu.

In the last two months, Israeli forces have been blasting northern Gaza, saying they are preventing a resurgence of Palestinian militant Hamas.

The Israeli military has advised Palestinians to move to southern Gaza, but thousands of residents remain in the north, with few deliveries of aid.