Military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi said that the Israeli army’s movement towards the Philadelphia axis aims to separate the Gaza Strip from the Sinai desert and Egypt, but he ruled out that this goal would be achieved.
According to Israeli media, Israeli tanks began a ground operation from Kerem Shalom to the Philadelphia axis on the Gaza Strip border with Egypt.
Al-Duwairi believes that the occupation, after its loss at the strategic level, is seeking to place all crossing points leading to the Gaza Strip under its absolute control, and described the Israeli move towards the Philadelphia axis as a “dangerous matter.”
Regarding the buffer zone that the occupation seeks to create in the Gaza Strip, Al-Duwairi suggested – in his analysis to Tel Aviv Tribune – that it will be from three directions: the northern front, the length of the strip, and the border with the Republic of Egypt, and to this he will add an attempt to position himself in the Gaza Valley to separate the north from the south.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously informed US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that, at the end of the war, Israel intends to establish a “deep buffer zone” in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Channel 11 also revealed that the occupation army is preparing to end the ground operation within weeks, stressing that the third phase includes reducing the number of forces, forming a buffer zone, and continuing focused attacks.
Commenting on the Israelis’ talk about Gaza’s security future, Al-Duwairi said that after Netanyahu was talking about eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and what comes after Gaza, he turned 180 degrees, and issued his instructions to begin easing and withdrawing and talking about a buffer zone.
The military expert ruled out that the occupation army would be able to achieve the goals he was talking about on the ground, pointing out that it had entered the Juhr al-Dik and Beit Hanoun areas in the northern Gaza Strip, and after 56 days it was unable to control these areas.