Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan that would result in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians from northern Gaza, CNN reported on Sunday.
The report, citing the Israeli broadcaster Kan, said that during a closed-door meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Netanyahu said the plan “makes a lot of sense.”
Netanyahu added, “It is one of the plans being considered, but there are several others. We are committed to dismantling the civilian control of Hamas.”
The ethnic cleansing plan is known as the “General’s Plan” since it was drawn up by retired Israeli generals, including Giora Eiland, who released a video on YouTube where he outlined the idea.
The plan involves four steps:
- Transferring the civilian population in northern Gaza to the south of the Netzarim Corridor
- Blocking all aid and imposing a full siege of northern Gaza and pronouncing it a “closed military zone”
- Preventing deliveries to the area until it is “cleansed” and the remaining Hamas fighters are defeated by applying “intense” military pressure
- Conducting a similar procedure in other areas of the Gaza Strip
In his video, Eiland said the evacuation order for civilians would not be optional. “The right thing to do is to inform the approximately 300,000 residents who remained in the northern Gaza Strip, citizen residents, of the following: Not that we are suggesting you leave the northern Gaza Strip, we are ordering you to leave the northern Gaza Strip,” he said.
“In a week, the entire territory of the northern Gaza Strip will become military territory. And this military territory, as far as we are concerned, no supplies will enter it. That is why 5,000 terrorists who are in this situation, they can either surrender or starve,” Eiland added.
Many Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza would likely ignore any evacuation order since there’s nowhere for them to go, and Israel has repeatedly bombed so-called “safe zones” throughout the genocidal war. That means any remaining Palestinian civilians in the north would be killed or starved to death by the Israeli military.
If completed, the ethnic cleansing could pave the way for Jewish settlements. Many Israeli ministers and Knesset members openly support re-establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip.
A group of 27 MKs, including three ministers, recently sent a letter to Netanyahu urging him to adopt the “General’s Plan.” The letter was signed by members of Netanyahu’s Likud party, the Religious Zionism party, and the Jewish Power party.
