Israel's "Surrender or Starve" General's Plan For Northern Gaza Is Nothing New

Written by Robert Inlakesh

As Israel faces military setbacks in southern Lebanon, it now focuses its efforts on bombarding Gaza in an attempt to annex the northern portion of the besieged territory under what is known as the "General's Plan". This plan is a policy of complete extermination that will aim to mass murder 300,000 people.

Israel has again ramped up its campaign of indiscriminate bombing attacks across the Gaza Strip, the most horrifying of which were the airstrikes launched against injured refugees who were being treated in tents next to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. The shocking scenes of civilians being burned to death, while attached to IV drips, went viral across social media and demonstrated that despite the daily videos of dead children -- over 17,000 killed so far -- that Israel's attacks can continue to leave the world speechless and numb.

Innocent civilians trying to sleep in tents are being burnt by Israel deliberately for fun and for cruelty

where are you world?https://t.co/7XGBiJE7FO

— Furkan Gözükara (@GozukaraFurkan) October 13, 2024

In the beginning of October, Israel launched a new ground incursion into various areas of northern Gaza, specifically targeting the Jabalia Refugee Camp, to begin with. Just as it did in October of 2023, it launched the ground invasion with a warning to the residents of the area to flee south. Not only were people again shot, and targeted by airstrikes when attempting to flee, but many also saw what happened to the refugees who fled their homes last year and were forced to repeatedly evacuate areas where they had been forced to live in tents, all while being actively starved and bombed indiscriminately. 

Although various plans have been proposed by the Israeli military, intelligence, and political leadership, on how to deal with the Gaza Strip going forward, we did not begin to get serious indications of an imminent annexation plot until early September. This is when the Israeli daily, Haaretz, published an article on Israel's plans regarding the annexation of the northern Gaza and settlement expansion endeavors there, all as part of the "next phase" of the war.

Later that same month we began to hear that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was warming up to an annexation plan in "secret meetings". In order to understand the details of this plan, we first have to look at what Gaza is today. As of the writing of this article, according to the United Nations approximately 90% of the population of Gaza have been displaced (this is a conservative estimate). While last October there were 1.1 million people in northern Gaza, now only 300,000 remain.

Underneath what is deemed to be northern Gaza is the "Netzarim Corridor", which has been completely conquered by Israeli forces and is where they have set up a fortified presence. Below the Netzarim Corridor is the rest of the population of Gaza, who primarily live in huge unsanitary tent cities located in and around "al-Mawasi". Below this area is Rafah city, which was originally where Israel had claimed to establish a "safe zone", and is now mainly deserted. South of the city is the "Philadelphia Corridor", situated along the Egyptian border area, and is also where Israeli forces have set up fortified positions. In late August, as the last round of "ceasefire talks" came to their conclusion, Israel added the condition that they sought to stay in both of these corridors, which led to the collapse of the initiative to reach a ceasefire.

On top of this, Israel has cleared out an area between 1 to 1.5km deep into Gaza, completely destroying all of the agricultural lands and buildings which were previously located there. This land grab, which Amnesty International investigated and labelled a violation of international law, is what Israel calls their "security buffer zone", eating up 16% of Gaza's total land mass.

Therefore, Israel has already cut Gaza into two pieces, reducing the size of the territory, and now, under its new plan for the north, would seek to steal even more of its territory. The "General's Plan", as it is popularly known, was reportedly drafted by Israeli ret. Major General, Giora Eiland, and would seek to first impose what Israel labels a "closed military zone" in the whole of northern Gaza.

Israel would then give the 300,000 Palestinian civilians living there one week to flee. After this, every single person living in northern Gaza would be considered a "military target" and killed en-mass. Additionally, Israel would seek to impose a policy of complete starvation on the population there, implementing Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's infamous "we are fighting human animals" pledge to stop all food, water, electricity, fuel, and medicine.

The idea behind this policy would be to defeat what Israel estimates to be 5,000 Hamas fighters who remain in northern Gaza. Not only is this estimate baseless, but the obvious issue with this "surrender or starve" strategy is that the tunnels from which the Palestinian resistance fight likely lead out of northern Gaza. This is the reason such a plan made no military sense for the Israeli army over the past 12-months.

Furthermore, the architect of the "General's Plan" openly wrote that his intentions were to murder not only the fighters of Hamas, but the entire Gazan population. “Let’s not be intimidated by the world,” he wrote in an op-ed that was published in November, 2023, making it clear that there is to be no distinction made between combatant and civilian in Gaza. He openly mocks what the "poor women" of Gaza, stating that “who are the ‘poor’ women of Gaza? They are all the mothers, sisters or wives of Hamas murderers”. He continued:

“Israel must not provide the other side with any capability that prolongs its life. The international community warns us of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and of severe epidemics. We must not shy away from this, as difficult as that may be. After all, severe epidemics in the south of the Gaza Strip will bring victory closer and reduce casualties among IDF soldiers”.

As Israel now orders civilians to flee northern Gaza, and killing them when they try, they also discuss the idea of placing illegal settlements in the areas where some 300,000 people will presumably be the subject of a Holocaust style mass-murder campaign, if the "General's Plan" is followed through on. This isn't shocking, however, as senior Israeli government ministers have been attending illegal settlement planning conferences since January.

Netanyahu's Likud party issues invitation to event titled "Preparing to Settle Gaza" https://t.co/1J2RukwKuL

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 16, 2024

While Israel is yet to openly affirm that its latest invasion of northern Gaza is geared towards implementing its annexation plan, all the signs are there to suggest that this is the case. In the past two weeks, no aid has reached northern Gaza and the indiscriminate bombing campaign is only becoming more intense as the days go on.

And there it is. They're finally admitting it. This is all this has ever been about. Not hostages. Not ending Hamas. Not self defense. Not mass rapes. Not beheaded babies or babies placed in ovens. This has always been about taking land from the indigenous people of Palestine. https://t.co/gZ9VQJINPB

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) October 13, 2024

The only problem that the Israeli military may face in implementing this plan is an expansion of the intensity of the war with Lebanon. So far, Hezbollah have successfully repelled repeated Israeli attempts to push deeper into southern Lebanon on the ground, as each day the Lebanese resistance is expanding its rocket, missile, and drone fire. If the war on Lebanon becomes more intense, it may be difficult for the Israelis to implement the "General's Plan" in northern Gaza, especially as it has no military value to them and serves only their sadistic desire to commit more mass murder. Another thing that may stand in their way could be a potential Iranian response to any strikes that Tel Aviv are planning to carry out against Iran.