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Israel is considering turning the northern Gaza Strip into a closed military zone in preparation for emptying it of its people, while its forces committed three massacres yesterday against families in the Strip, resulting in 46 deaths and 60 injuries arriving at hospitals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of the Knesset that he is studying the so-called “generals’ plan” to impose a siege on the northern Gaza Strip and turn it into a “military zone.”
Netanyahu told members of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “according to the information we have, half of the hostages (the remaining 97) in Gaza are still alive,” a committee member told The Times of Israel.
In the closed session, Netanyahu indicated that the plan to impose a siege on the remaining Hamas fighters is one of several plans under study, which will be presented to the Ministerial Council for discussion in the coming days.
The plan includes forcing all Palestinian civilians to leave northern Gaza “within a week,” in order to impose a blockade on Hamas, according to the Israeli vision, and force the movement to release the remaining detainees. The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation “Makan” quoted Netanyahu as saying that “the plan is logical,” and that it is “one of the plans being considered, but there are other plans as well.”
Netanyahu told the committee that “controlling the distribution of humanitarian aid is the secret to victory in Gaza,” and therefore imposing a military regime to manage the affairs of the region may be necessary at the present time, although it is not his ultimate goal.
The United Nations estimates that one million people, nearly half the population, currently live in an area designated for humanitarian purposes, which constitutes less than 15% of the area of the Strip, and lacks basic infrastructure and services.
The United Nations says it is particularly difficult to get humanitarian aid into northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people live. Retired Israeli Major General Giora Eiland, who presented the plan to the committee last week, said the plan, which does not have U.S. support, “will change the reality on the ground” in Gaza.
“We must tell the residents of northern Gaza that they have one week to evacuate the area, which will then become a military zone, (an area) where everyone is a target and, most importantly, no supplies will enter that area,” he added. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement that the Israeli army had committed three massacres against Palestinian families, killing 46 people.
The ministry confirmed that a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them, due to the direct targeting of medical crews by Israeli aircraft. The ministry reported that the death toll from the war on Gaza has risen to 41,455 dead and 95,878 wounded, most of them women and children, since October 7, 2023.
