Power Targets
The Israeli military term for striking Palestinian family houses and the fictional reality of the US political discourse on Palestine
Today’s topic is a recently disclosed practice of the Israeli military being carried out right now in Gaza. It at once confirms the agonizing testimonies of Palestinians on the ground and the genocidal nature of Israel’s assault.
An investigation published by 972+ on November 30, 2023 “based on conversations with seven current and former members of Israel’s intelligence community — including military intelligence and air force personnel who were involved in Israeli operations in the besieged Strip — in addition to Palestinian testimonies, data, and documentation from the Gaza Strip, and official statements by the [IOF] Spokesperson and other Israeli state institutions” has confirmed that Israel’s current assault on Gaza has “significantly expand[ed] its bombing of targets that are not distinctly military in nature. These include private residences as well as public buildings, infrastructure, and high-rise blocks, which sources say the army defines as ‘power targets’ (‘matarot otzem’).”
Private residences. In other words, houses. Houses where families live. High-rise blocks. In other words, apartment buildings where dozens if not hundreds of families live.
The 972+ investigation described the purpose of bombing Palestinian families in their homes as follows:
“The bombing of power targets, according to intelligence sources who had first-hand experience with its application in Gaza in the past, is mainly intended to harm Palestinian civil society: to ‘create a shock’ that, among other things, will reverberate powerfully and ‘lead civilians to put pressure on Hamas,’ as one source put it.”
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