Extract from ABC News
Palestinians flee Beit Lahiya during an ongoing Israeli military operation. (Reuters)
Israel's war in Gaza has stretched into its second year, and its recent campaign in the north of the territory has led many to question its real motives.
On October 6 Israel designated all of the northern Gaza Strip a combat zone and ordered the entire civilian population to evacuate.
Since then, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 162nd Division has besieged the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and the Jabaliya refugee camp.
It has blocked almost all food, fuel and medicine while bombing civilian infrastructure — ostensibly in search of Hamas militants.
UN agencies have estimated about 100,000 people have been displaced from northern Gaza, and it is possible more than 1,000 have been killed since the siege began.
The heavy civilian death toll, the hunger and the alleged forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from northern Gaza have fuelled accusations that something far more serious is afoot.
Much of that is based on the existence of a plan put forward by a former IDF general.
Israeli strikes have flattened residential buildings in Beit Lahiya. (Reuters)
Unpacking 'the general's plan'
In a modest office north of Tel Aviv adorned with awards and mementos amassed during a lengthy career, Giora Eiland appeared visibly frustrated about being at the centre of an international debate.
After a 33-year career in the IDF during which he rose to the rank of major general, he is accustomed to combat — physical and rhetorical.
Mr Eiland had stern words for the two kinds of critics of his plan to root out Hamas in northern Gaza.
Giora Eiland said under his plan, those left in northern Gaza "have to decide either to surrender or to die of starvation". (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
"The first are ignorant people who know nothing, who do not know anything about the laws of armed conflict," he told the ABC.
"And the other kind of people are evil people who are against Israel.
"They don't want to reach any solution to the problems in Gaza. They enjoy the simple fact that Israel is under pressure from the international community."
They are bold statements from a man who has become the face of a controversial proposal.
The so-called "general's plan" was an idea he said came from witnessing the IDF's shortcomings.
Mr Eiland said Israel had recorded considerable military wins in Gaza, but had been struggling to "crush Hamas".
His proposal calls for a siege on the north of the territory, with the encirclement of about 30 to 35 per cent of Gaza and the cutting-off of all food, water and energy supplies.
Mr Eiland insisted, however, that civilians would be given the opportunity to leave before such a campaign began.
Two safe corridors would be established along which thousands of Palestinians could head south a week or two before the siege and they would remain open.
"After all the civilians leave and only the combatants stay, then we don't have to fight," he said.
"Those combatants who stay in this area will have to decide either to surrender or to die of starvation.
"And this is my plan, nothing more than that."
Civilians who stayed would be considered combatants.
Under the plan, the IDF would consider anyone remaining in northern Gaza a combatant. (Reuters)
Mr Eiland said his reasoning had its foundations in the culture of the Middle East.
"There are only two important matters — two levers," Mr Eiland said.
"The first is honour, or if you can cause damage to [someone's] honour, if you can humiliate them.
"And the second thing, which is more important, is land — if you can take land from them. Land is much more important than human lives.
"So my conclusion was that we have to conquer the northern part of Gaza."
Starvation and displacement in war
Mr Eiland insisted his proposal complied with international humanitarian law despite claims it would amount to egregious violations of multiple statutes and conventions.
Much of the criticism has been focused on two elements — displacement and starvation.
"[Displacement] is not permitted if it is an intent to do it permanently," he said.
"[If] you say to the people, 'This is going to be a very tough military zone and you are advised to leave because otherwise you might be killed,' this is something which is much more humanitarian than the other way around."
But there is a caveat.
"If Hamas decides not to release the Israeli hostages whatsoever, and if in a few months — and this is our prediction — there will be zero alive Israeli hostages in Gaza, then probably this area will never return to the Palestinians," he said.
"They have to understand this, these consequences."
International law is clear on the use of displacement and starvation as weapons of war.
The International Red Cross says evacuations must only take place for the duration of a specific military operation, and that any civilians who remain in an evacuated area must still be given aid.
Despite that, Mr Eiland said his plan upheld humanitarian law.
He has rejected comments from some supporters of the proposal that it should open the door to Israeli settlements being built in northern Gaza.
The UN has found women and children make up the majority of verified deaths in Gaza.
Israel's approach in northern Gaza
The existence of the general's plan and details of Israel's current conduct in northern Gaza have led many to suggest the IDF is already enforcing Mr Eiland's plan.
He disputed that.
"They began the large ground operation in a time that most of the civilians, the 400,000 people, are still there," Mr Eiland said.
"So it is true that they called on them to leave, but then began the ground operation anyway, and actually they risked the life of many, many civilians."
Brigadier General Itzik Cohen briefed Israeli media in early November that there was "no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes".
A house in Jabalia destroyed by an Israeli strike earlier in November. (Reuters: Hassan Al-Zaanin)
The IDF later distanced itself from those comments, and it has repeatedly rejected allegations it has been implementing the plan.
A Human Rights Watch report has accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza for forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and says a lack of intent to permanently displace civilians does not diminish the illegality.
The organisation said Israel had "carried out deliberate, controlled demolitions, including to create an extended 'buffer zone'" in Gaza inside an area known as the Netzarim Corridor.
Areas under IDF control are highlighted in orange and the Netzarim Corridor is shown as a white line in the middle of the Gaza Strip. (ABC News: Oliver Delprado)
Israeli media has reported that corridor has been growing wider, with IDF outposts built inside it to help control the flow of people in and out of northern Gaza.
Ofer Shelah, a former member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and a director at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said the general's plan was "a red herring".
"I know General Eiland personally. He was my commander in the army. I've known him for many years," he said.
"I don't care what General Eiland says. I care what the IDF does.
"What the IDF is doing now … [is] bringing Israel, every day, closer to a position where it is regarded as de facto conquering and taking over Gaza, which will be disastrous both for our diplomacy and for our army."
Mr Shelah said he did not believe Israel was not trying to starve and kill civilians, but its actions would leave it responsible for any deaths that occurred.
Ofer Shelah said the IDF's actions would lead to "a position where it is regarded as de facto conquering and taking over Gaza". (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
Dire humanitarian situation in northern Gaza
Israel has allowed almost no food and aid into Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza since the Israeli army laid siege to it on October 6.
The UN said there was an imminent risk of famine.
Hospitals said injured and ill people had been dying due to a lack of medical staff and supplies.
And, when it was time to implement the second round of a polio vaccination campaign on children, it became too dangerous for some families to attend and for health workers to operate, the UN said.
The Israeli army said more than 58,000 children had been vaccinated against polio, but Gaza's health ministry said it was being prevented from getting to thousands of other children. (Reuters: Dawoud Abu Alkas)
Hamish Young, an Australian aid worker who is a senior emergency coordinator for UNICEF, said there were Israeli strikes on health facilities while the vaccination campaign was underway despite requests that Israel pause its attacks.
"The coordination of the humanitarian pause and the zones that it was meant to be in, it doesn't work perfectly," he said.
As a result, an estimated 7,000-10,000 children in inaccessible areas of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to the polio virus.
"We did reach, I think it was 89 per cent of the target population in the end," Mr Young said.
"That should be enough … to break the transmission of polio, although we won't know until we carry out surveillance and do environmental testing over the next few months.
"But it was done under far less than ideal circumstances."
No comments:
Post a Comment