An article in an Israeli magazine reported that Palestinians fear losing their homes and lands forever, while the occupying state is expanding the buffer zone and establishing military bases in the Gaza Strip.
Independent Palestinian journalist Ruwayda Kamal Amer stated in an article in the online magazine “+972” that the Israeli army’s long-term plans have become clearer more than 7 months after its war in the besieged Gaza Strip.
“+972” is a left-leaning, independent news magazine founded by four Israeli writers, and includes a group of Israeli and Palestinian journalists.
Permanent buildings
Ruwaida said that the occupation army is destroying homes, bulldozing lands, and erecting buildings that will enable it to operate inside Gaza for years to come, as appears from satellite images and eyewitness testimonies.
She added that since the outbreak of the war, the army has demolished buildings along the eastern edge of the Gaza Strip as part of what is widely believed to be a plan to create a kilometer-wide “buffer zone” between the populated areas of Gaza and Israel – equivalent to 16% of the area of the Strip – which would be prohibited. Palestinians from entering.
Thousands displaced
The author of the article warned that these plans could lead to the permanent displacement of thousands of civilians and severely affect the already limited agricultural sector in Gaza.
She pointed out that this buffer zone is not the one that the Israeli army may resort to to permanently change the geography of the Gaza Strip.
She added that since last October, the Israeli army has expanded the abandoned “Netzarim” checkpoint – which it ran before the “disengagement” from Gaza in 2005 – by constructing a 6.5-kilometre-long road that divides the Strip into two halves.
According to the Palestinian journalist, satellite images now show the “Netzarim Corridor” extending from Gaza’s eastern border with Israel all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, in addition to the construction of housing units, communications towers, and other infrastructure on a large scale.
traffic movement
The author of the article expressed her belief that, by building settlement outposts along the Netzarim Corridor, the army will be able to control and restrict movement in the Gaza Strip and continue carrying out its ground operations.
It considered this comprehensive destruction of private property and occupation of lands outside Israel’s borders to be a flagrant violation of international law, with immediate consequences for the civilian population in Gaza.
In Ruwaida’s opinion, this destruction appears to be continuing along the entire eastern perimeter of Gaza. Rami Obaid, a resident of the town of Beit Hanoun in the northeast of the Strip, told “+972” magazine that he is concerned about the effects of bulldozing and widespread destruction in the areas near the border fence. Especially for those who lost their homes and lands as a result of the expansion of the buffer zone, he lamented, “We will not return to our homes if the army implements its plan.”