Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who led the war in Lebanon, made statements following Benjamin Netanyahua’s gift to Donald Trump, the golden pager, and returned to talk about Operation Beeper: “Preparations for Operation Beeper began years ago, and it was ready to be carried out on October 11, but Netanyahu said no.
“That day, there were thousands of pagers in the hands of party members. If the operation had been carried out on that date, the number of assassinations would have been in the thousands. The goal was to hit 20-25 thousand Hezbollah members by detonating the ‘ICom V8’ devices.”
“Due to Netanyahu’s delay, a great opportunity was missed that would have been greater than the pager. Detonating the pagers was a “marginal event” compared to the booby-trapped radio communication devices in the warehouses, which would have eliminated the entire fighting force of the party.”
Hezbollah sources responded on social media that the radios were indeed booby-trapped but most were in storage or turned off. “Most of these devices were in warehouses and no significant damage was caused.” The sources also said, “Hezbollah does not issue a radio to everyone, at most 2 per group.” Before the war, Hezbollah gave equipment to tens of thousands of reserves, and that includes radios, including the Japanese V-8 ones that exploded and were on. “The number of those that exploded is much less than the pagers but anyone who was indoors was killed because of the size of the explosives.”
But Israel’s plans are not over, especially now that Trump has promoted the plan to rebuild Gaza by deporting Palestinians, allies or otherwise not hostile to Hamas to: Spain, Norway, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, just to name a few. Finally there is the annexation of Samaria and Judea, once the West Bank. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that Spain, Ireland, Norway and other countries are “legally obligated” to take in displaced Palestinian refugees. Recognizing Palestine as a state. Defense Minister Katz has called the entire top of the Israeli security apparatus to discuss the plan to allow Gaza residents to leave voluntarily.
But there were apparently a series of discussions within the IDF in Israel following the “Trump Plan,” during which the head of military intelligence, Shlomi Binder, warned that the plan could lead to an immediate escalation in Judea and Samaria, with a particular warning about the month of Ramadan, which begins in late February. Along with this warning, the prevailing IDF assessment presented to the political leadership is that the plan is feasible, but it is not yet clear to what extent. Consequently, the Defense Minister instructed the Chief of the General Staff to reprimand the head of military intelligence for his statements.
For Israel, the plan to displace Palestinians is not new at all, however. Some Arab media reported an article from 1969 in Al-Dustor that reads: “The Emptying of the Gaza Strip Has Begun: Urgent Calls by Arab Leaders to Stop Israel’s Plan Against 300,000 Arab Citizens.” In reference to Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip at the time, there was a plan to move 300,000 Palestinians to Paraguay.
The Voice of New York in an article from December 16, 2023 wrote an article about Israel’s Paraguay plan. The article reads: “According to the minutes of a 1969 cabinet meeting discovered a few years ago by journalist Eran Cicurel, then-Prime Minister Golda Meir (a Ukrainian naturalized Israeli) told those present: “We have to make a decision, and it is very important that everyone be agree to it.” The then Mossad chief Zvi Zamir took the floor to explain that Paraguay would be willing to accept “60,000 Arab Muslims who are not communists, according to their definition.” At that time, the occupants of the Strip numbered about 600,000, about a quarter of the current number. The Israeli idea was to invite them all to go elsewhere.”
And it goes on: “According to the 1969 protocol, Israel would pay the travel expenses of Palestinians to Paraguay and would give each person 100 (one hundred) dollars. Another thirty-three (33) dollars per person were to go to the government of Paraguay. At the time of signing the agreement, Israel would pay $ 350,000 to cover the costs of 10,000 emigrants. Stroessner agreed to grant the 60,000 Palestinians residency status immediately upon arrival and citizenship within five years. The entire amount Israel was to pay was $33 million.” The plan was a failure, and only thirty Palestinians moved to Paraguay. In 1970, two of them shot and killed Edna Peer, who worked at the Israeli embassy in Asuncion. She died, and with her the agreement but not the idea of relocation.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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