Operation Patient: Israel’s Secret Expulsion of 800+ Palestinians (1970–1972)
Between 1970-1972, Israel secretly deported over 800 Palestinian detainees to Jordan - most held without trial under administrative detention. Blindfolded and shackled, they were driven to remote desert locations near the Jordanian border, given a hat, a canteen of water, and one Jordanian dinar, then forced to walk across minefields. Many faced gunfire from Jordanian border guards who mistook them for Israeli infiltrators.
I found this testimony disturbing in how it echoes the bureaucratic deception central to #Nazi deportations:
[…] Years later, attorney Felicia Langer wrote:
“In 1970-1971, detainees kept vanishing one after another. On November 8, 1971, when I entered the corridor of Hebron prison, I saw detainees lined up in pairs with their backs to me, each shackled to his neighbor’s hand. Among the group, one pair stood out - an old man and a young one who looked like a boy. Some of them asked me where they were going, and a guard answered: ‘To Nablus prison.’ One pressed him: ‘Then why without our belongings?’ No answer came. Just a wink in my direction.“
Israel’s own legal advisors - including Theodor Meron - warned the expulsions violated the Fourth Geneva Convention and constituted war crimes, but Meron was disturbed purely on legal-technical grounds. He feared Israel would face international legal consequences, not that the expulsions were inherently wrong. Lt. Col. Dov Shefi from the Military Advocate General’s office instructed Foreign Ministry officials: “Avoid using the term ‘Patient’ externally” - Israel knew the operation was illegal and worked to conceal it.
The Operation targeted not just militants but students, family members of wanted individuals, and low-level detainees accused of “membership in hostile organizations.” After a 1971 grenade attack in Gaza, Israel expanded the operation to expel relatives of suspects as collective punishment.
The #ICRC condemned the expulsions; Israel dismissed their protests. For decades, Israel denied the operation existed. Today, all documents remain classified under “security” justifications, but testimonies and declassified ICRC records reveal the systematic nature of this forced displacement campaign.
Full investigation:
Hebrew https://www.akevot.org.il/article/operation-patient
English (summary and archival material) https://www.akevot.org.il/en/article/operation-patient/
#OperationPatient #Palestine #Nakba #Palestien #EthnicCleanisg #Israel #crimesagainsthumanity
Anwar
oatmeal
lemon
tj (i make it past the end) 😷
7amood🇵🇸.gaza🇵🇸