'Israel' evacuates 300,000 settlers amid aggression on Gaza: Reports

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Oct 2023 22:47
1 Shares

Most of those who left their homes were settlers of the Gaza envelope region.

US citizens make their way to board an emergency evacuation ship from Israel to Cyprus as fighting continues between "Israel" and Hamas militants, at Haifa port, "Israel", Oct. 16, 2023 (AP)

The Israeli regime has evacuated 300,000 settlers from their homes amid the aggression on Gaza, as reported by The Jerusalem Post, citing the Israel Democracy Institute.

According to the report, most of those who left their settlements were settlers of the Gaza envelope region.

The remaining 10% came from the northern areas of the occupied territories.

Israeli media said the military isolated an area of 5km (3 miles) away from the blue line separating Lebanon from occupied Palestine, closing its access to the Israeli public due to the mounting escalation.

Evacuations in North and South fronts

After having celebrated 75 years of the occupation of Palestine, "Israel" has found itself scrambling to evacuate settlements it had previously prided itself on insolently erecting atop occupied Palestinian lands across regions bordering Gaza and Lebanon.

Israeli military spokesperson Jonathan Conricus, who in an interview with The Canadian Jewish News said his time serving in the Israeli Occupation Forces elite Brigade, Givati, was a perfect fit because “I like to blow things up”, announced that about 500,000 Israeli settlers have been forced to evacuate settlements, since the beginning of Operation Al Aqsa Flood.

These Israeli settlements were built on stolen Palestinian lands.

The operation was a response to the culminating occupation practices against the people of Palestine, conducted by the Israeli occupation government, forces, and settlers alike.

According to Conricus, "about half a million Israelis are currently internally displaced," adding that "more than 20 settlements in the north [on the Lebanese front] were also evacuated."

Yesterday, Israeli sources reported that it is planning to evacuate settlers in settlements up to two kilometers from the Lebanese border.

The ministry’s National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) said the settlers would be taken to government-funded guesthouses after the plan was approved by Security Minister Yoav Gallant.

The IOF has repeatedly informed the authorities in the region about the impending execution of the scheme, as per Israeli media reports.

According to IOF, the 28 settlements included in the plan are "Ghajar, Dishon, Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Metula, Avivim, Dovev, Ma’ayan Baruch, Bar’am, Manara, Yiftah, Malkia, Misgav Am, Yir’on, Dafna, Arab al-Aramshe, Shlomi, Netu’a, Ya’ara, Shtula, Matat, Zar’it, Shomera, Betzet, Adamit, Rosh Hanikrah, Hanita and Kfar Giladi."

Media and strategic experts have commented on the plan, suggesting it may be related to the Israeli ground invasion. Meanwhile, the Israeli army speculated that Hezbollah might carry out infiltration operations or missile launches. Meanwhile, the chief of the upper Al-Jalil city council expressed concerns, stating that there are many questions about the plan, stressing that there is a lack of clarity in the evacuation plan, and uncertainty surrounds the allocated budget for it.