A retired Israeli general who has had significant influence on Israel’s operations in Gaza has called for the Palestinian territory to remain in a state of devastation “for generations,” Middle East Eye reported on Monday, citing Israeli media.
“Israel has no interest in Gaza being rebuilt, it is better for us that it be destroyed for generations to come,” Ret. Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland told Israel’s 103FM radio station.
“The greater the despair in Gaza and the greater the destruction, and the greater the monument to what they did on October 7, years to come, that is good,” added Eiland, who previously headed Israel’s National Security Council.
Eiland was responsible for crafting what became known as the “general’s plan,” a proposal to destroy northern Gaza by forcibly evacuating northern Gaza, cutting off all aid, and considering anyone who remains as a hostile militant.
The retired general presented the plan to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in September 2024, and the following month, Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza and cut off virtually all aid going to the areas of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia.
The campaign in northern Gaza also involved mass demolitions in the areas civilians were forced out of, destroying nearly all of the buildings in the north. While Israel officially denied it was carrying out the “general’s plan,” it’s clear significant portions of it were implemented.
In his radio interview, Eiland also criticized the Hamas disarmament plan announced by President Trump and the so-called “Board of Peace,” calling it “pro-Hamas.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also rejected the proposal.
Eiland said that Israel should be able to keep the land that it controls in Gaza, which is currently about 70% of the Palestinian territory. “In war…the losing side loses. Germany, which lost the Second World War, was forced to surrender 25 percent of its territory,” he said.
“Along with this, there is the territorial need for the Yellow Line, which we must not give up under any circumstances. This is a war, the enemy has lost, and we need land, not for settlement, but as a security buffer between the settlements and where the IDF can be located,” Eiland added.
