In a searing and unflinching conversation with journalist Chris Hedges, renowned Middle East scholar Norman Finkelstein dissects the true nature of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. Far from a conventional military campaign, Finkelstein argues, Israel is executing a calculated and multifaceted operation to eliminate Gaza as a political, geographic, and human entity. Enabled by American silence, Western media misdirection, and international paralysis, the campaign reflects what Finkelstein chillingly calls a “final solution to the Gaza question.”
A Campaign of Extermination
Finkelstein’s analysis begins with what he describes as the “outright genocidal” component of the assault. Citing data from Airwars and the United Nations, he notes that in the first month alone—from October 7 to October 31, 2023—approximately 1,900 Palestinian children were killed. To put this in perspective, he compares it with the worst month of the Syrian conflict in 2016, in which around 250 children died, and the worst year of that conflict, which saw about 1,900 child deaths.
“If you take any humanitarian metric,” Finkelstein says, “Israel in the 21st century is in a class all its own.” He points to the number of UN workers, medical personnel, and journalists killed, as well as the sheer tonnage of explosives dropped—a volume surpassing even that of the firebombing of Dresden during World War II.
Finkelstein challenges the notion that genocide must entail killing an entire population instantly. Rather, he argues, within the political constraints imposed by the international community, Israel has achieved a horrific efficiency. The method is clear: relentless aerial bombardment, siege, and deprivation. “It is extermination,” he declares, rejecting the euphemistic language of war.
Ethnic Cleansing by Design
Alongside genocide, Finkelstein identifies ethnic cleansing as a key prong of Israel’s Gaza policy. Since the end of the ceasefire on March 18, 2024—which he argues was never truly honored by Israel—the military has expanded its ground offensive. Two-thirds of Gaza has been placed under displacement orders, and areas such as Rafah, a border city in the south, have been rendered “no-go zones” and encircled by Israeli troops.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other officials have spoken openly of plans to evacuate Gaza’s population, potentially into the Sinai Desert or even to distant African countries like Sudan and Somaliland. While these proposals remain speculative, Finkelstein believes they reflect a deeper intent.
“The question is no longer if the Palestinians will be expelled from Gaza,” he says, “but when and where they will go.”
Yet so far, the ethnic cleansing has not achieved its full objective—primarily, Finkelstein says, because there have been no willing hosts. Egypt has fortified its border and publicly denied Israeli accusations of treaty violations. Other potential relocation sites, such as Sudan, are either unwilling or too unstable to accept such a population transfer.
Making Gaza Uninhabitable
The third and most insidious strategy, Finkelstein contends, is making Gaza unlivable. With all access to food, water, electricity, and fuel cut off, Israel has engineered a humanitarian catastrophe. The final operational desalination plant has ceased functioning. Hospitals, schools, and refugee camps have been reduced to rubble.
“The aim is to break the will of the people,” Finkelstein says. “To make them scream.”
This tactic, he argues, mirrors the language of U.S. foreign policy in the past. He recalls Henry Kissinger’s infamous strategy to “make the economy scream” in Chile. In Gaza, Finkelstein asserts, the objective is to induce such unbearable suffering that Palestinians will beg to leave.
Israel’s willingness to partially restore humanitarian access in October 2023 was not an act of mercy, he insists, but a response to international pressure. Now, with media coverage dominated by U.S. political drama, notably Donald Trump, that pressure has evaporated. “It’s a back alley of genocide,” he laments. “No one’s watching.”
Language and Propaganda
Finkelstein warns that language shapes perception—and in the case of Gaza, that perception has been manipulated to serve Israeli interests. The Western press, he argues, reinforces the false paradigm of a “war” between Israel and Hamas, when in reality the campaign more closely resembles the Nazi extermination of European Jewry.
He invokes his mother’s memory as a Holocaust survivor who rejected the term “war” to describe her own experience. “It was an extermination,” she said. “We were like roaches.”
By framing the conflict as a war, Finkelstein argues, Western media implicitly grants legitimacy to Israel’s violence. “This is not a war,” he insists. “It’s a systematic destruction. And we have to be careful not to use the language that helps them win the propaganda battle.”
Silencing Dissent and Crushing Academic Freedom
Turning to the U.S., Finkelstein highlights the suppression of pro-Palestinian student movements across American universities. He recounts how student encampments—initially a source of hope—were swiftly dismantled under pressure from wealthy pro-Israel donors.
Three Ivy League presidents were ousted in the spring of 2024: Claudine Gay at Harvard, Liz Magill at UPenn, and Minouche Shafik at Columbia. Their offense, according to Finkelstein, was not supporting genocide but failing to grovel adequately before Congress and the press.
“We are witnessing an unprecedented assault on academic freedom,” he says. “Not even the McCarthy era compares.”
Finkelstein ties this crackdown to the broader agenda of silencing the political left and transforming universities into compliant institutions that serve elite interests. Citing misrepresentations by The New York Times, he accuses mainstream media of laying the groundwork for repression by casting peaceful protests as antisemitic.
Failure of the International Community
Finkelstein laments the impotence of international institutions. He praises the International Court of Justice and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for their efforts, but argues that legal mechanisms have failed to stop the “killing machine.”
He recalls the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09 as a moment when Israel briefly faced global scrutiny. But Judge Richard Goldstone’s later retraction—which Finkelstein attributes to blackmail or pressure—dismantled any momentum. “Since then, Israel has never seriously been threatened with accountability again.”
He believes figures like former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and current ICJ judges have been similarly pressured. His forthcoming book, Gaza’s Gravediggers, will explore how powerful actors have undermined justice for Palestinians.
As Gaza burns and its people face annihilation, Finkelstein offers a dire warning: without sustained international attention and resistance, the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is not only possible—it is imminent. With Western media distracted and global institutions paralyzed, Israel moves ahead with what he describes as a calculated and unprecedented crime.
“There’s nothing stopping the killing machine,” Finkelstein says. “And once the cameras are gone, they get on with the business.”
