Israel planning to seize more Gaza land, report says

The Israeli military is reportedly planning a renewed military offensive in Gaza, which is expected to start in March, according to the Middle East Eye via Times of Israel on January 10th.

Quoting officials, the report said that the Israeli military had developed plans outlining the offensive, which aims to increase the areas of Gaza under Israeli control and seize more Palestinian land.

Areas of Gaza under Israeli occupation are marked by the so-called “yellow line“, which Israeli forces have repeatedly expanded to further restrict Palestinian movement.

It was reported on January 10th that within three weeks, Israeli forces had increased the areas of Gaza under occupation from 53% to over 60%.

This is despite the US-backed ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10th, stipulating an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Concerns have been raised that the yellow line will lead to a de facto partition of Gaza.

Additionally, on December 23rd, Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that Israeli forces would remain “deep inside Gaza”, vowing that they “will never leave all of Gaza.”

On the same day, Katz announced plans to construct Nahal settlements in northern Gaza, which refers to settlements established by soldiers to encourage Haredi Jews to enlist in the military.

Jewish settlements in Gaza were dismantled in 2005 under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s settler disengagement plan, which led to the evacuation of settlers from the enclave.

However, the Benjamin Netanyahu government has sought to rebuild these outposts as part of a broader plan to maintain a Jewish demographic majority in the occupied territories.

In December, at least two groups of Jewish settlers broke into Gaza in an attempt to establish settlement outposts in the war-torn region; both groups were apprehended by Israeli authorities before they could progress further into the Palestinian enclave.

One group was affiliated with the far-right Nachala Movement, which claimed that “Gaza belongs to the people of Israel, and we must start settling there right now.”

Nachala envisions Gaza’s Palestinian population being replaced with 1.2 million Jews, who would live in some 300,000 housing units constructed primarily in northern and southern Gaza.

Overall, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 71,000 people since October 2023, of the dead, at least 17,000 are believed to be children.

Since the October 10th ceasefire, Israeli attacks have killed at least 418 people in an 80-day period, while Israeli ceasefire violations in the same timeframe totalled at least 969 instances.

Middle East Eye via Times of Israel, Maghrebi.org