10/17/2024–|Last updated: 10/17/202404:59 PM (Mecca time)
The generals’ plan aims to control the northern Gaza Strip, by displacing the region’s population to the south, then imposing a complete siege on the north, including preventing the entry of supplies, food aid, water, and fuel, and using starvation as a means of pressure for displacement.
What is the generals plan?
A military plan proposed by former Israeli army general Giora Eiland to Benjamin Netanyahu, and adopted by a large number of army generals, so it was called the generals’ plan.
The plan was drawn up in September 2024, with the aim of forcibly displacing the population of the northern Gaza Strip, by imposing a complete siege on the region, including preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, to starve the remaining civilians, as well as the resistance fighters, and put them before two options: death or surrender.
Then later, the northern Gaza Strip will be transformed into a “closed military zone” with the aim of completely eliminating any presence of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the region.
The generals’ plan assumes that the siege is the most effective solution to end the war and reduce the death toll of Israeli occupation soldiers.
It is also estimated that controlling northern Gaza could push residents of other areas to rise up against Hamas.
Stages of the generals’ plan
The first phase of the plan begins with the depopulation of the northern Gaza Strip, which has been part of the Israeli army’s strategies since the beginning of the war in October 2023 and before this plan was drawn up.
In November 2023, the occupation army announced that 95% of the northern population had been displaced to the southern Gaza Strip, although statistics estimated that more than 300,000 Palestinians had not left the northern Gaza Strip even after a year of war.
After the displacement of the Palestinians to the south via the Rashid Road, passing through the Netzarim Corridor (an area extending from east to west and dividing the Gaza Strip in half), and the evacuation of the population from the area, the phase of transforming the northern Gaza Strip into a closed military zone will begin.
In the second and final phase, the generals’ plan imposes a comprehensive siege on those remaining in the northern Gaza Strip, in addition to isolating the area from the rest of the Gaza Strip, by preventing any entry or exit movement from or to it, stopping aid and supplies, including food, fuel, and water, and considering everyone who remains as military targets.
The beginning of the generals’ plan
Although the start of implementation of the plan was not officially announced, on October 7, 2024, Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee issued an evacuation notice to residents of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and other areas in Gaza City.
Two days later, the army launched a massive attack on Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, in addition to issuing orders to evacuate 3 hospitals in the area.
In August 2024, the former head of the Israeli Security Council, General Reserve Giora Eiland, called for the imposition of a comprehensive siege on northern Gaza in order to defeat Hamas.