Isabelle Hayslip holds a Master of International and Comparative Law from Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Her research focuses on the law of self-determination and human rights in Palestine.
As Western leaders deliberate on advancing their commitments to the two-state solution, the Israeli state is leading a ground offensive on Gaza City, one of the few areas of the Gaza Strip not yet totally destroyed. The plan, named "Operation Gideon's Chariots II," has received widespread international condemnation, including an Aug. 8 joint statement by the foreign ministers of nine Western countries rejecting it, which "will aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians." But an occupation of Gaza City may have an additional purpose.
There was already concern that Israel's policies across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) would soon eliminate any remaining possibility of a two-state solution, and that without international action, "there will be no Palestine left to recognize." Then, in an Aug. 9 condemnation of Israel's "intention to impose full military control over the Gaza Strip," a group of over 20 Arab and Muslim countries announced that they "consider this announcement a dangerous and unacceptable escalation, a flagrant violation of international law and an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli/facts on the ground by force, in contravention of international legitimacy."
These statements are not unfounded.
The Israeli government has approved a significant expansion of illegal settlements in the OPT, described by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as a strategy to "erase the Palestinian state" by "establishing facts on the ground." These plans include developing the E1 settlement, which would bisect the occupied West Bank to connect the settlement of Maale Adumim with Jerusalem.
There was already concern that Israel's policies across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) would soon eliminate any remaining possibility of a two-state solution, and that without international action, "there will be no Palestine left to recognize."
- : Isabelle Hayslip
Announcing the E1 plan on Aug. 14, Smotrich reiterated its larger purpose: "They will talk about a Palestinian dream, and we will continue to build a Jewish reality…This reality is what will permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize." He continued: "Whoever in the world is trying to recognize a Palestinian state today will receive our answer on the ground. Not with documents, nor with decisions or statements, but with facts."
If these words indicate Israeli policy, then Operation Gideon's Chariots II is another step in a recurrent Israeli strategy to remake the region's physical and social landscape in its favor.
Since Oct. 7, the idea of permanently transferring Gaza's population has dominated official discussions of Israeli policy, foreshadowing Tel Aviv's escalating offensive on Gaza. In an October 2023 document, the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence recommended evacuating Gaza's civilian population to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, beginning with aerial operations focused on northern Gaza. The effort would be followed by "a gradual ground invasion of the territory in the north and along the border until the occupation of the entire Strip" and the establishment of a "humanitarian zone," while "leav[ing] the travel routes to the south open to enable the evacuation of the civilian population toward Rafah."
The document proposes that "the return of the population to activities/residences near the border with Israel should not be allowed" and calls for a campaign to motivate Gazans to accept this plan by "making it clear that there is no hope of returning to the territories Israel will soon occupy."
There is a real possibility that Tel Aviv is attempting to carry out the total erasure of Palestine as a national and political entity.
- : Isabelle Hayslip
The ministry recommends one of three options (Option C) detailed in the document, which "will yield positive, long-term strategic outcomes for Israel." The execution of Option C "requires determination from the political echelon in the face of international pressure, with an emphasis on harnessing the support of the United States and additional pro-Israeli countries for the endeavor."
Option C parallels statements made by Israeli officials, which bear a remarkable resemblance to Israel's policies in the OPT. In 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged civilians to leave Gaza ahead of an offensive that would "turn Gaza into a deserted island." In parallel, then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced the complete siege of Gaza without electricity, food, water or fuel in a fight against "human animals."
Nearly two years later, Israel has destroyed roughly 70% of Gaza's infrastructure, displaced 90% of the population, and killed over 64,000 people while inducing a man-made famine. Indeed, the world is likely witnessing the implementation of the Intelligence Ministry's plan, which the Israeli government had first painstakingly worked to discount.
Netanyahu testified at a May 2025 meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the government's plans to expel the population of Gaza by extensively demolishing homes, resulting in "the desire of the Gazans to emigrate outside the Strip." In July 2025, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a military plan to transfer the population of Gaza to a so-called "humanitarian zone" in Rafah.
In this context, the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is a coercive tool for forcibly displacing Palestinians in Gaza southward, utilizing desperation for the limited and risky aid sporadically available at only four GHF sites located in central and southern Gaza. Not only does the GHF appear to support the expulsion of Palestinians from the Strip, but its U.S. backing suggests that Israel successfully gained the American endorsement deemed necessary to execute Option C's displacement plan.
The similarity between the Israeli government's rhetoric and policies on Palestine indicates a strong correlation of words to action: Israeli officials do not make empty threats. Accordingly, there is a real possibility that the Tel Aviv is attempting to carry out the total erasure of Palestine as a national and political entity.
But can Israel actually "bury the idea of a Palestinian state?"
Israel exerts de facto control over the OPT, while the de jure right to exist on that territory belongs to the Palestinian people. In its advisory opinion of July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed that the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, including the right to an independent, sovereign state over all the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Further, the ICJ confirmed that Israel's policies and practices in Palestinian territory, designed to establish irreversible facts on the ground, lack legal validity, and that occupation cannot create a legitimate claim to territory.
Even if completely displaced, Palestinians hold the only legitimate legal claim to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israel cannot erase this claim, nor can it lawfully create its own through occupation and military force against Palestinians. However, the Israeli policy of "creating facts on the ground" has, to date, effectively fulfilled its aims.
Governments unwilling to recognize Palestine as a state argue that it does not fulfill one or more of the customary requirements of statehood: permanent population, defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter relations with other states, per the Montevideo Convention. If Israel succeeds in expelling the population of Gaza, the forced absence of a "permanent population" in at least part of the OPT could provide additional excuses to not recognize Palestinian statehood—notable amid a potentially historic push by some Western states to recognize the State of Palestine.
Barring a change in Israeli policy or international intervention, Israel can physically impede the realization of Palestinian statehood. While this method cannot generate a lawful claim to the OPT, the illegitimacy of Israel's actions would be a small comfort to a people whose dismemberment the world allowed, in violation of our most celebrated principles. But if the international community fears losing the opportunity to act on its endorsements for Palestinian rights, individual states should take concrete measures to protect Palestinians' legitimate claim to exist as a people, nation and state.
