Israeli soldiers say ‘Generals’ Plan’ already underway in northern Gaza
A man is pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building after an Israeli air strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on 15 October 2024
Lubna Masarwa reports in Middle East Eye on 16 October 2024:
Israeli media has reported evidence that a plan to ethnically cleanse northern Gaza and kill any Palestinians who remain is underway. Three Israeli reserve soldiers serving in Gaza told Haaretz this week that they believe the “Generals’ Plan”, also known as the Eiland Plan, is being implemented.
“The goal is to give the residents who live north of the Netzarim area a deadline to move to the south of the strip. After this date, whoever will remain in the north will be considered an enemy and will be killed,” a soldier stationed in the Netzarim Corridor was quoted as saying.
“It doesn’t conform to any standard of international law. People sat and wrote a systematic order with charts and an operational concept, at the end of which you shoot whoever isn’t willing to leave. The very existence of this idea is unfathomable.”
Over the past 10 days, as Israeli forces ordered hundreds of thousands of people to flee northern Gaza before launching a new offensive, Israeli media and analysts have suggested that the military is implementing this controversial plan.
There are now increasing signs that even if the policy has not been adopted by top military officials who are reportedly discussing it, the plan is already being carried out, Haaretz reported on Wednesday.”Ideas such as deliberately opening fire close to a population and even steps towards starving the inhabitants are being debated,” wrote Haaretz journalist Amos Harel.
“These ideas haven’t officially been validated in the IDF chain of command, but the very fact that they are being discussed, and the political involvement of right-wing parties and media outlets, is trickling down.” A second soldier told Haaretz: “The commanders say openly that the Eiland Plan is being promoted by the IDF.”
A senior general staff officer responded to Haaretz, saying: “We take orders only from the chief of staff and pass them on to the divisional commanders. Many people have different worldviews and that’s fine, but that does not dictate the operational plans. There is no starvation of the population here in order to evacuate them. No way.”
‘Complete nonsense’
Two Israeli experts have said that they believe the “General’s Plan” is “complete nonsense” and predicated on pre-7 October dynamics that are no longer relevant.
Assaf David, co-founder of the Forum for Regional Thinking and head of the Israel in the Middle East Cluster at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, told Middle East Eye he thinks the Israeli military is implementing the plan to put pressure on Hamas, assuming it is the same organisation it was a year ago.
“It’s an illusion. It’s not the same organisation and not in the same position. It lost many of its military capabilities and resilience and power in Gaza,” David said. “This is not what will bring the hostages back home and the government knows it. I think the government let go of the hostages and they don’t care if they die.”
Instead, he said, the strategy in northern Gaza – and Lebanon – is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broader plan to stay in power and “has nothing to do with security considerations”. “What is happening now in the north is occupation, no doubt,” David said. “The world has been busy with what is going on in Lebanon and it gave Israel the chance in north Gaza. Even if it wasn’t planned, it was given an opportunity.”