Israel wants to obliterate Gaza to deter Iran, Hezbollah, says Dutch memo

Israel is deliberately using “disproportionate force” in Gaza and targeting “civilian infrastructure” in an effort to limit its own losses and showcase its “military force,” according to a confidential memo from the Dutch Embassy in Tel Aviv.

The memo, drafted by the Dutch defense attaché in the embassy and seen by Dutch media outlet NRC, analyzes Israel’s military strategy in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been launching retaliatory airstrikes for over a month straight and conducting a ground invasion, killing more than 11,000 people according to the health ministry in Gaza.

The defense attaché said that the Israeli army is using lethal force in an attempt to limit its own losses and “showcase credible military force to show Iran and its proxies [such as Hezbollah] that they will stop at nothing,” NRC reported.

This strategy has the “intention of deliberately causing massive destruction to the infrastructure and civilian centers” in Gaza, targeting houses, bridges and roads, and causing massive civilian casualties, which explains the “high number of deaths” among civilians, the attaché added.

Israel’s approach violates “international treaties and laws of war” and increases the chance of regional escalation, the memo said.

The embassy’s defense attaché also wrote that Israel is trying to completely eliminate the threat of Hamas, a “military goal that is virtually impossible to achieve.” Israel is motivated by revenge, the memo said, as “the emotion and anger reverberate in IDF [Israeli army] briefings.”

The memo also accuses the Dutch government of being aware of Israel’s “ruthless approach,” yet failing to condemn it. While Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week that Israel “must show that what they are doing is also proportionate,” he has not publicly called for a cease-fire.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “not every internal document should be viewed as a policy recommendation.”

“We do not comment on the wide variety of documents that are drafted at the ministry or at the diplomatic missions as part of the policy-making process,” it said in an emailed statement.

The ministry added that the Netherlands is “highly concerned” about the “severity and scale” of the Israel-Hamas conflict and that “further civilian casualties on both sides must be avoided.”

“We call for restraint, and we continue to emphasize this in all our diplomatic conversations,” the ministry said. “The situation is highly complex. And that only goes to reaffirm the importance of investigating events on the ground.”