ADRIAN MA, HOST:
Israel has been fighting accusations in international court that it has been committing war crimes in Gaza. As Gazans face food shortages and Israeli forces carry out a new wave of deadly air strikes, the accusation of war crimes is now being leveled by a former Israeli defense chief. NPR's Daniel Estrin brings us more from Tel Aviv.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Moshe Ya'alon, defense minister under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu till 2016, spoke at an event in Tel Aviv about Israel's war in Gaza.
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MOSHE YA’ALON: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: "The path we're being dragged down," he said, "is to occupy, to annex, to cleanse - ethnic cleansing." Ya'alon waged the 2014 Gaza war as Netanyahu's defense minister. Politically, he's a hawk, but he's been a vocal critic of Netanyahu's far-right government.
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LUCY AHARISH: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: The event moderator, journalist Lucy Aharish, responded, "you said a pair of words I never thought I'd hear from you - ethnic cleansing in Gaza. That's where you think we're headed?"
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YA’ALON: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: "Headed?" he replied. He said it's already happening. Referring to Israel's two-month offensive against Hamas in North Gaza. Many Palestinians there have been killed. The majority have fled. Israel's foreign minister called on Ya'alon to retract his statement, but he only doubled down. Israel's strikes in Gaza are intensifying, says Mahmoud Basal of Gaza's civil defense group.
MAHMOUD BASAL: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: He told NPR there were around 50 Palestinians being killed in Gaza each day, but in the past day alone nearly 100 were killed throughout Gaza.
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ESTRIN: And food is scarce. NPR producer Anas Baba in Gaza filmed crowds at a charity kitchen, some holding empty pickle cans to fill up with soup.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: They are just pushing each other. They don't even put even a centimeter for anyone to breathe. They just, like, keep pushing forward and forward and forward. We saw a child that he's fainted from all of the squeezing of the people themselves.
ESTRIN: The food shortage in Gaza could get worse. The main U.N. aid agency in Gaza says it's suspending aid delivery through a main crossing point because of looting and the lack of safety of aid routes. World Central Kitchen is suspending its meal program after an Israeli airstrike killed some of its workers. Israel says one took part in the October 7 attack on Israel. World Central Kitchen says it had been providing 200,000 meals a day in Gaza. Now it's providing none. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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