Israeli Knesset member Ofer Cassif  said, “The Israeli government and its members are calling for ethnic cleansing and even genocide.”

Cassif  added in blog posts on the X platform: “My constitutional duty is towards Israeli society and all its residents, and not towards a government whose members and coalition call for ethnic cleansing, or even actual genocide.”

He continued, referring to the government: "They are the ones who harmed the country and the people. They are the ones who led South Africa to appeal in The Hague, not me and my friends."

Cassif  had signed a petition supporting the lawsuit submitted by South Africa against Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, to oblige it to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, against the backdrop of its accusation of committing “genocide crimes.”

He continued in his blog posts: “When the government works against society, the state, and its citizens, especially when it sacrifices them and commits crimes in their name to maintain its existence, it is my right and even my duty to warn against this and to do everything I can within the law to stop it.”

He added: "I will not give up the struggle for our existence as a moral community. This is true patriotism. No wars of revenge and calls for extermination, no unnecessary bloodshed, and no sacrifice of kidnapped citizens and soldiers in false wars."

Cassif is a member of the Knesset for the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, an Arab and Jewish party that rejects the occupation and calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In this context, the Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported on Sunday that Cassif  "was subjected to severe criticism from the right, after he signed a petition to support the lawsuit filed against Israel in the International Court of Justice."

Smotrich calls for settlement in Gaza

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stressed the necessity of controlling Gaza “at all times,” calling on the government to establish Jewish settlement within the Strip.

The minister, known for his extremist statements, added that Israel will not be able to permanently control Gaza without a civilian presence, so that terrorism has no place to grow, he said.

He added, "See why Jenin and Tulkarm turned into capitals of terrorism? Because there is no Jewish settlement there."

The severity of Smotrich's extremist statements has increased since the start of the aggression on Gaza, the last of which was a few days ago when he spoke with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir about the necessity of displacing the residents of Gaza, reoccupying the Strip and building settlements there.

The extremist statements even affected the Palestinians in the West Bank, as Smotrich said late last November that “there are two million Nazis” in the West Bank.

In early January, South Africa filed a lawsuit before the International Court of Justice, the main judicial body of the United Nations, accusing Israel of committing “genocide crimes” in the Gaza Strip. Next Thursday and Friday, the International Court of Justice is scheduled to begin hearing the pleadings of Israel and South Africa in the case, with deliberations continuing later.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” in response to “the continuing attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their property, and their sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.”

In response, the Israeli army launched a devastating war on Gaza, leaving about 23,000 dead and more than 58,416 wounded, most of them children and women, massive destruction of infrastructure, and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Palestinian and international sources.