Gaza is no more after destruction by Israel, Jewish activist Norman Finkelstein says

Political scientist accepts Hamas committed crimes in the October 7 attacks, but refuses to condemn their actions

Norman Finkelstein, a prominent Jewish political scientist and activist, speaks at Columbia University in April. Katie Smith / Sipa USA

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Israel has left Gaza uninhabitable with its invasion and air assaults, expecting it will never be rebuilt, Jewish political scientist and activist Norman Finkelstein said.

"Gaza is no more," Mr Finkelstein told The National. Home to more than two million people, the enclave was made uninhabitable through the "systematic destruction of its infrastructure", he said.

The UN estimates Gaza now has 40 million tonnes of rubble and will need at least until 2040 to rebuild. The wreckage is mixed with toxic substances and bodily remains, which will require specialised equipment to remove safely, experts have told The National. But in previous post-war attempts to reverse destruction caused by Israel, rebuilding has proven challenging due to Israel's limitations on materials entering the enclave.

Israel has already placed restrictions on aid and shelter kits entering Gaza under the pretext that they are "dual use".

"To rebuild, you need cement," Mr Finkelstein said. "Israel will say it can't admit the cement because it'll be used to build tunnels [used by Hamas]."

Secondly, with 80 per cent of buildings destroyed in Gaza, and nine out of 10 people displaced, people no longer have anything to return to. Israel's aim to bomb the enclave was to get people to leave, Mr Finkelstein said.

With more than 41,700 people killed, many of them women and children, despite Israel's ability to conduct precision strikes that killed Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran or Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Mr Finkelstein says in Gaza, it is apparent Israel aims to "thin out the population".

Israel maintains that its two aims in Gaza are to eradicate Hamas, which it accuses of using civilians as "human shields", and to free the remaining hostages captured by the group on October 7, during an attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel.

Just after the Hamas attack, Mr Finkelstein was one of many commentators and analysts who were asked whether he condemned Hamas's actions. He said he "acknowledges" that the group killed civilians but refuses to condemn their actions.

"Once you become aware of what Gaza was like before October 7, in my opinion, it’s impossible to condemn the young people who burst through the gates of Israel on October 7." Mr Finkelstein said there is no denying that "crimes of a significant magnitude" occurred that day.

He said that "legally, what Hamas militants did were criminal acts and they’re liable for punishment" but added that he would "defend them in court and make a plea of extenuating circumstances".

Hannibal directive

Mr Finkelstein also said it is "not a matter of dispute" that Israel implemented the Hannibal directive, which enables soldiers to fire at Israelis to prevent them from becoming future hostages on and just after October 7.

"The question is how many Israelis did the army kill in the course of implementing the Hannibal directive," he said, adding that the figures are not immediately clear. Witnesses on October 7 have told Israeli media that they had seen Israeli forces fire at civilians on the day.

Through his extensive research and conversations with experts, Mr Finkelstein estimates that around 100 to 200 civilians were killed by Israel.

"That would leave at least 600 civilians killed by Hamas which is a large number," he said.

Speaking to The National, former Israeli government strategist Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), said there was "no doubt" some Israelis were killed by Israeli forces.

"Some of them were killed by the IDF when the IDF tried to stop Hamas operatives," he said. "These are marginal numbers but it's still under investigation."