Israeli plan to concentrate Gazans in closed zone faces widespread backlash - War on Gaza
Defence Minister Israel Katz unveiled the plan during a briefing with reporters last Monday, outlining the construction of a closed zone in southern Gaza, to be built from scratch, during a potential 60-day ceasefire currently under negotiation in Qatar, amid Israel's genocidal assault on the Strip.
For 21 months, Israel has relentlessly carpet-bombed Gaza, turning entire regions to rubble. The civilian population—more than two million people displaced by Israel's brutal airstrikes—would ultimately be relocated to this zone, according to Katz.
The plan aims to initially house around 600,000 displaced residents from southern Gaza, with four aid distribution centers managed by international organizations, Katz said.
However, the proposal has been met with fierce opposition. Critics have questioned its feasibility and morality, with Israel's opposition leader condemning the astronomical cost, while experts pointed out the lack of infrastructure needed to support such a large population in the area.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has equated the proposed facility to a "concentration camp," while Britain's minister for the Middle East and North Africa voiced his "appall" at the idea.
"Palestinian territory must not be reduced," Hamish Falconer of the UK Foreign Office stated on X. "Civilians must be able to return to their communities."
'Extremist Delusions'
Nearly 21 months of Israeli airstrikes and an inhumane blockade have left Gaza in ruins, displacing the majority of its population, creating acute shortages of food and essential supplies, and killing 58,026 people—most of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Those who would be relocated to the proposed facility would first undergo security screenings to ensure they are not affiliated with Hamas. Once admitted, they would not be allowed to leave.
Israel's military, according to Katz, would offer security "from a distance."
Yet even within Israel's own security establishment, the plan has been met with sharp criticism.
Local media reports suggest that army chief Eyal Zamir denounced the proposal during a cabinet meeting, stating it would distract from Israel's primary military objectives: defeating Hamas and securing the release of captives taken on October 7, 2023.
Channel 12 reported that unnamed security officials dismissed the plan as little more than a "gigantic tent city," warning it could pave the way for a return to Israeli military occupation in Gaza.
The plan fits perfectly within the long-held goals of far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, key coalition partners of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Both Smotrich and Ben Gvir have long advocated for the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza, from which Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005. They have also repeatedly called for the "voluntary expatriation" of Palestinians from Gaza—a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.
The projected cost of the initiative—estimated between 10 and 20 billion shekels ($3-6 billion)—has only added to the outrage as the economic toll of nearly two years of war continues to mount.
"That money is not coming back," opposition leader Yair Lapid stated on X. "Netanyahu is letting Smotrich and Ben Gvir run wild with extremist delusions just to preserve his coalition. Instead of plundering the middle class's money, end the war and bring back the hostages."
'Fantasies'
The Palestinian Authority has been unequivocal in its condemnation of the proposed facility, with its foreign ministry asserting: "The humanitarian city has nothing to do with humanity."
This sentiment was echoed by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which stated the plan would effectively create "massive concentration camps" along the border with Egypt.
A Palestinian official familiar with the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Qatar told AFP that Hamas has rejected the idea of concentrating Palestinians in a small section of southern Gaza, viewing it as preparation for their forced displacement to Egypt or other countries.
Amnesty International, which has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, warned that relocating Gazans within the territory or "deporting them outside against their will would constitute the war crime of unlawful transfer."
Last Friday, 16 Israeli scholars of international law sent a letter to Katz and Zamir, warning that the scheme could be classified as a war crime.
Michael Milshtein, an Israeli former military intelligence officer, dismissed the plan as one of many "fantasies" floated by Israel's leadership in the face of growing public disillusionment with the war's trajectory and the lack of a political solution.
He also highlighted the complete lack of infrastructure in the proposed zone, raising serious concerns over the provision of basic necessities such as electricity and water.
"There is only sand and fields, nothing," said Milshtein, who now heads the Palestinian Studies program at Tel Aviv University.
"Nobody tells the Israeli public what the price and consequences of reoccupying Gaza would be, both economically, politically, and security-wise," Milshtein added.
"If people truly understood that the goal of the war is the reoccupation of Gaza, there would be massive social unrest in Israel."
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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