'Israel' eyes security buffer zone in Gaza's Beit Hanoun: Report

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
13 Jan 2025 08:34

The proposal, as reported by the Israeli Army Radio, focuses on the elevated areas of Beit Hanoun, which provide strategic oversight of the Israeli settlement of Sderot.

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A Palestinian child walks with a bicycle by the rubble of a building after an Israeli airstrike hit it in Gaza City, in October 2023 (AP)

Israeli military officials have proposed establishing a permanent security buffer zone in parts of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, according to reports by Israeli media on Sunday, Anadolu Agency stated.

The proposal, as reported by the Israeli Army Radio, focuses on the elevated areas of Beit Hanoun, which provide strategic oversight of the Israeli settlement of Sderot. Senior military commanders in the southern region, who are currently leading operations in northern Gaza, argue that such a zone would permanently prevent Gaza residents from returning to specific areas of Beit Hanoun.

“The plan focuses on the entire line of elevated areas in Beit Hanoun that provide direct oversight of nearby Israeli settlements, enabling potential control through fire and surveillance,” Army Radio reported.

The proposal also aims to ensure that no structures in Beit Hanoun could overlook Israeli settlements, surrounding lands, or the Sderot railway line in the future.

However, this recommendation has not yet been approved by the Israeli political leadership as official policy.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza continues to deteriorate. Since the operation began, no adequate aid, including food, medicine, or fuel, has been allowed into the area, leaving the population facing extreme deprivation.

The ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza has resulted in the killing of more than 46,500 Palestinians, primarily women and children, since October 7, 2023.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Additionally, "Israel" faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

Gaza people 'will not stay here': Extremist IOF settlement group head

Gaza’s population must leave the territory, Daniella Weiss, the leader of the Israeli far-right Nachala organization, stressed in October, claiming that Palestinians in the besieged Strip have "lost their right" to reside there following the October 7 events, The Times of Israel reported.

Weiss, who heads the organization that arranged the so-called "Resettle Gaza" conference near the Gaza Strip's border, said that "October 7 changed history" and therefore, the people of Gaza "lost their right to be here, they will not stay here, they will go to different countries, we will convince the world."

At an event calling for the reoccupation of Gaza, attended by Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, she confirmed that the conference's aim is to "settle the entire Gaza Strip, from north to south, not just part of it."

Weiss, a long-time advocate for Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, also confirmed that Nachala has already organized six "settlement groups" made up of 700 families "ready right now" to establish new settlements in the Gaza Strip.

"Soon these families will be able to enjoy the Gaza coast," she added.

Weiss mentioned that Nachala had already secured a deal worth "millions of dollars" to establish temporary housing units near the Gaza border. She said these units are intended to eventually be moved into the Gaza Strip.

Settlers who moved to Gaza would "witness how Jews go to Gaza and Arabs disappear from Gaza," Weiss indicated.

The conference has also garnered support from the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit coalition parties, with a sizable delegation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party members, including Minister May Golan, scheduled to attend the event, according to The Times of Israel.

This comes as the Israeli occupation forces continue to empty the Strip from its civilian population and raze civilian infrastructure, leaving it uninhabitable and lacking the basic necessities of life.