Israel plans to reoccupy Gaza indefinitely. Here’s what that actually means.
Relatives of Palestinians mourn the dead after the Israeli army’s attack on al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, 4 May 2025
Qassam Muaddi writes in Mondoweiss on 5 May 2025:
The Israeli war cabinet unanimously approved on Sunday the expansion of Israel’s war on Gaza, according to news reports quoting Israeli officials. The aim of the war expansion plan is, according to officials, to reoccupy Gaza and maintain control of it for an unspecified period of time. The approval came days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the primary goal of the war was to “defeat Hamas,” indicating that the release of Israeli captives was a secondary goal. The news was confirmed on Monday by the Associated Press, which spoke to two Israeli officials.
Quotes from government officials in recent weeks seem to indicate the expansion of operations will replicate Israel’s strategy in Rafah throughout all of Gaza. In Rafah, Israeli forces have reduced the city to rubble forcing all Palestinians out of the city. With this precedent set, the new plan can only be understood as the next step in Israel’s plans to ethnically cleanse all Palestinians from Gaza.
The Reoccupation of Gaza
Three weeks ago, Israeli media revealed plans to divide the Gaza Strip into five areas by creating permanent military zones inside the Palestinian enclave. Since the resumption of the war by Israel in mid-March, Israeli forces have completely isolated the southern area of Rafah from the rest of the strip through carving out a new military corridor dubbed the ‘Morag corridor,’ which crosses the Gaza Strip from east to west, and cutting Rafah off from Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are currently taking shelter.
In a televised statement, Israel’s war minister Israel Katz described the operation as “making Gaza smaller and more isolated.” This strategy began to take shape while Israel was still engaged in indirect talks, through Egypt and Qatar, to reach a new ceasefire deal with Hamas. Israel had set the condition of Hamas disarming, which the Palestinian side refused. Israel also refused to commit to ending the war.
On Sunday, the war cabinet meeting came amid renewed resistance by Palestinian factions, who attacked Israeli forces in Rafah and Beit Hanoun over the past week, leading Israel to admit the loss of four soldiers and the wounding of several others. Meanwhile, Israel continued its bombing of Palestinian towns and cities from the north to the south of the strip. On Monday morning alone, the daily death toll was at 20 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia, Gaza City and Khan Younis.