Israel’s Plan for Gaza: Aid, Evacuation, Control

According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “the plan includes distributing humanitarian aid outside combat areas,” which observers see as an attempt to encourage the residents of the sector to move southward as part of a large-scale displacement operation. The plan involves evacuating about one million Palestinians to new areas within the sector, with the establishment of 12 additional food distribution points, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority. The sector will be gradually controlled, with Israel currently controlling about 75% of it. No exact timeline has been set for the start of implementation, but the declared goals include disarming the Palestinian Hamas movement, retrieving Israeli captives, imposing complete Israeli security control, and establishing an alternative civilian administration not affiliated with “Hamas” or the Palestinian Authority. The plan includes calling up reserve forces from Division 146, deploying Division 98, along with Divisions 162, 36, 99, and the Gaza Division, to impose a military siege on the city on October 25, in preparation for a ground invasion. The government has faced external criticism, even from some of its European allies, due to its intention to expand the scope of the war. The leaking of the plan’s details coincided with massive protests in Tel Aviv, where thousands of Israelis demanded an end to the nearly two-year-long war and the release of captives. Military leaders have warned that “the operation could severely endanger the remaining captives, numbering about 20 people,” while opinion polls indicate widespread public support for ending the war quickly to ensure the release of the captives.