GAZA, (PIC)
For the past ten days, tens of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza, particularly in the Jabalia refugee camp and the towns of Jabalia al-Balad, al-Touma, al-Karama, al-Attatra, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun, have been living in a tragic situation under the tightening Israeli blockade in these areas, with every moving object being targeted. The occupying army has been conducting more ground operations, bombings, and demolitions of homes in an attempt to displace the remaining residents.
Under the pretext of preventing the Palestinian resistance from regaining strength, the occupying army launched a military operation on October 4, 2024, in areas of northern Gaza, especially in the town of Jabalia and its camp, committing massacres that resulted in hundreds of martyrs and injured.
According to multiple testimonies, the occupying army is carrying out raids, searches, destruction, and demolitions in the areas of the terraces, shelter schools, and the western regions of the camp, including al-Touma, Bir al-Najja, Abu Sharakh, and al-Attatra, while increasing military pressure from the north on Beit Lahiya to complete the blockade.
Residents report that the occupying army has begun advancing in Beit Lahiya, located north of the Jabalia camp, seemingly trying to apply pressure on the besieged areas by reinforcing its forces and vehicles, alongside intense artillery shelling on its new incursion areas. The Israeli bombardment from air, land, and sea has not ceased over the past few days. Drones, specifically “Quadcopters,” have also participated in targeting Palestinians moving in the targeted areas with live ammunition, amidst difficulties faced by medical teams, civil defense, and journalists, who have become a minority in the region.
While the areas are under military pressure and a complete siege, the occupying army has set up earthen barriers to prevent movement west of the Jabalia camp in the Abu Sharakh roundabout area, aiming to push Palestinians eastward towards the civil administration area. Citizens reported that the army installed surveillance passages, cameras, and recording devices to monitor and verify the identities of expected displaced persons.
Repeatedly, the Israeli army has issued warnings for the forced evacuation of northern Gaza, including hospitals, directing people to specific passages to what they claim are “safe areas.” However, many citizens and ambulance drivers have faced Israeli shelling on the way or in those areas, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, along with further arrests.
What is the Generals’ Plan?
It has become clear from the behavior of the occupying army on the ground that they intend to implement what is known as the “Generals’ Plan,” aimed at emptying northern Gaza of its population and forcing them to flee south, followed by a reoccupation of the northern region, including the city of Gaza, which represents about one-third of the Gaza Strip’s area.
According to the Israeli newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth,” the third military operation of its kind in northern Gaza since the war began is a miniature and preliminary version of a plan created by reserve Major General Giora Eiland, former head of operations in the Israeli army, along with a number of retired generals, calling it the “Generals’ Plan.” This plan aims to decisively end the war in Gaza and achieve the long-awaited victory over resistance, which currently seems unattainable.
The “Generals’ Plan” calls for emptying northern Gaza (from Wadi Gaza to Beit Hanoun) of its 300,000 residents, giving them a two-week deadline to move south through safe passages designated by the occupying army. This would follow a search along the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the Strip into two parts. After the deadline expires, the area will be declared a closed military zone.
The area designated for evacuation constitutes 40% of the Gaza Strip’s total area. The plan explicitly states that the siege and starvation are fundamental factors in achieving what it calls the “cleansing of the north” from resistance, particularly in Jabalia and its surroundings. After implementing the plan in this area, it may be directed towards other parts of the Strip. While the occupation intensifies its siege on these areas with excessive firepower, thousands of Palestinian citizens are facing dire conditions, with water and food supplies running out as they plead for assistance to stave off starvation. Two weeks before the military operation began, the occupying army prevented the entry of any food supplies except for flour.
The second phase of the “Generals’ Plan” relies on the permissible killing of anyone who refuses forced displacement. The Israeli army will consider anyone remaining in northern Gaza as an illegal combatant affiliated with Hamas and other resistance movements, regardless of their identity, whether a child or an elderly person. Such individuals will be targeted for killing, imprisonment, or starvation to death (by completely preventing the entry of aid).
According to the plan led by the 162nd Division under Brigadier General Itzik Kohavi, alongside combat teams from Brigades 460 and 401, forced displacement will be followed by transforming the entire northern region into one under complete Israeli military control. Eiland claims that seizing the area will turn the residents of Gaza against Hamas, which will be the biggest nightmare facing Sinwar, accelerating a deal for the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza and defeating the resistance there.
Forced displacement
Palestinian affairs expert Khalil Tafkaji says that the occupation authorities are using the military “Generals’ Plan” to implement an unprecedented demographic change in the population of Gaza, indicating that this process confirms the occupation’s desire for complete control over northern Gaza.
Tafkaji adds, in an interview with Arabiya News, that this plan would carve out approximately 17% of Gaza’s area (including Jabalia Camp, Jabalia Town, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun), covering an area of 62 square kilometers, resulting in the destruction of large Palestinian population centers like Jabalia Camp, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun and their suburbs.
The settlement affairs expert believes that the occupation authorities are gradually working to re-establish settlements in Gaza, starting with small settlement groups and military sites in the northern areas, then expanding to settlements in the central and southern regions of Gaza. He notes that if the plan succeeds, the entire northern Gaza region will fall under Israeli sovereignty.
Tafkaji warns of the dangers occurring in northern Gaza, as this could drive residents to seek voluntary migration abroad in search of alternatives, which represents the essence of the Israeli plan and the objectives of the Israeli right.
Two different circumstances
In contrast to previous invasions that lasted from one to three weeks as part of the “third phase” of the genocide against Gaza, Israeli estimates claim that this operation could last for several months “to continue eliminating attempts by the resistance to rebuild itself.”
Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the occupation army claims to have killed at least 100 fighters in Jabalia so far and discovered offensive tunnels, some of which were previously undisclosed.
The Israeli newspaper states that the military operation in northern Gaza is occurring under two different circumstances: first, that the main war front is now in the north, and second, regarding the field conditions, as most residents of the northern region under military aggression refuse to be displaced towards the city of Gaza.
Northern Gaza and the city of Gaza have been subjected to various methods of genocide, the most notable being starvation and the prevention of humanitarian aid, in addition to arrests accompanying ground operations, along with the destruction of hospitals, infrastructure, and concentrated aerial bombardments. Since the beginning of the war, the occupation has relied on indiscriminate bombing, known as “carpet bombing,” to destroy neighborhoods and facilitate the movement of its ground forces, thwarting any resistance in the initial stages of ground operations, leading to constant movement of residents and repeated displacement both in northern Gaza and the city of Gaza, as well as in other cities of the Strip.
