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- Report: Israel testing aid freeze to north Gaza to "starve Hamas"
Report: Israel testing aid freeze to north Gaza to "starve Hamas"
According to "Politico", military officials offered Netanyahu a plan aimed at turning the northern parts of the strip into a closed military zone
The "Generals' Plan" revealed: The newspaper "Politico" published this morning (Monday) that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is examining a plan by retired military personnel to turn the northern strip into a closed military area, and also to stop the movement of humanitarian aid to this area - in an attempt to "starve" Hamas activists.
If the plan is implemented - hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who do not want or cannot leave their homes may be left without water and food.
We remind that the IDF issued many evacuation orders for the north of the strip throughout the war year - the last of which was published on Saturday evening.
The plan proposed to Netanyahu and the Knesset by undercover military personnel will increase the pressure and give the Palestinians a week to leave the northern third of the Gaza Strip, including the city of Gaza, before it is declared a closed military area.
According to the "Politico" website, so far, very few Palestinians have left the area. Some are elderly, sick or afraid to leave their homes, but many fear that there is no safe place to go and that they will never be allowed to return.
A Gazan aid worker told the newspaper: "They won't flee. We know that the place they reach will not be safe," she said, referring to southern Gaza, where most of the population is crowded in makeshift tent camps, and aerial strikes often hit shelters. "Therefore, people of northern Gaza say they prefer to die rather than leave."
Those who remain in place will be considered fighters - which according to military regulations allows soldiers to kill them - and they will be deprived of food, water, medicine and fuel, according to a copy of the plan given to the AP news agency.
The plan calls for Israel to maintain its control in the north indefinitely in an attempt to establish a new government without Hamas, while splitting the strip into two. A spokesperson from the American State Department said that "The US opposes any plan that would lead to direct Israeli occupation of Gaza."
It was also reported that before the government's decision to fully implement what is called the "Generals' Plan" was received, it is unclear how much it was considered. The IDF spokesperson was asked to respond - and he denied it. "We didn't receive such a plan," he said.
However, a source familiar with the subject told Politico that parts of the plan are already being implemented, without specifying which parts. Another senior Israeli official said that Netanyahu "read and studied" the plan, "like many plans that came to him during the war," but did not say whether it was adopted. The senior officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as the plan is not supposed to be publicly debated.