Netzarim Axis consumes 11% of Gaza amid Israeli expansion
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The IOF continue destroying developed and agricultural land in Gaza to establish the Netzarim corridor.
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Israeli soldiers move on armored personnel carriers (APC) near the Palestine-Gaza border, in southern Israel, Wednesday, Dec.18, 2024. (AP)
Since December 2024, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have expanded the Netzarim Axis in Gaza to a width of seven kilometers, destroying and wiping off at least 40 squared kilometers of agricultural and industrialized Palestinian land, a study by Palestine maps revealed.
The Netzarim expansion extended to 2025, stretching to new areas, particularly the al-Zaytoun and Tal al-Hawa neighborhoods, as well as the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps. In order to achieve that, the IOF obliterated the agricultural and developed areas between al-Zaytoun and Wadi Gaza, including the towns of Juhr al-Deek, al-Mushraqa, Sheikh Ajleen, and al-Zahraa City.
These also include Gaza's industrial park, power plant, main landfill, and wastewater treatment plant.
The Netzarim Axis currently takes up 11% of Gaza's land, which has been made possible by the erasure of tens of thousands of dunams of agricultural land, including ancient citrus and olive groves.
16% of Gaza land to be taken by 'Israel' for buffer zone
In March, an analysis by Adi Ben-Nun, a Hebrew University geography professor, said "Israel" plans to lay its hands on 16% of Gaza's territory to establish a “buffer zone".
Construction of the zone has already begun, per the professor, which naturally will involve the demolishing of Palestinian homes and agriculture to make space for the 1-kilometer (0.6 miles) wide zone.
Israeli officials previously refused to comment on how wide the buffer would be, but the former head of Israeli military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, said he expected "Israel" would enforce a "perimeter" of 500 meters to 1km inside Gaza.
Moreover, "Israel" had bombed factories, warehouses, and civilian infrastructure within the potential buffer zone. Some of the buildings had been deliberately mined by Combat Engineering units, in preparation to demolish the residential bloc.
The surface seems to be for a buffer zone, but the intent may be deeper than that, as many ministers of the occupation have called for building more settlements, according to The Wall Street Journal.
