Latest news with #YaakovGarb
The National
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israel to expand illegal settlements in Palestinian West Bank
Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small hilltop outposts to fully developed communities with blocks of flats, shopping centres, factories, and public parks. Settlements have been widely condemned by the international community as illegal, with the UK Government announcing sanctions last week on three people and four organisations in the settler movement. READ MORE: Row erupts on BBC Debate Night over 'racist' Reform UK ad Israel's defence minister Israel Katz said the settlement decision 'strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria', using the biblical term for the West Bank, 'anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism'. He added it was also 'a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel'. The West Bank is home to three million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering population centres. The settlers have Israeli citizenship. Israel has accelerated settlement construction in recent years – long before Hamas's October 7 2023 attack escalated its assault on Gaza – confining Palestinians to smaller and smaller areas of the West Bank and making the prospect of establishing a viable, independent state even more remote. The top United Nations court ruled last year that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on it to end, and for settlement construction to stop immediately. Israel denounced the non-binding opinion by a 15-judge panel of the International Court of Justice, saying the territories are part of the historic homeland of the Jewish people. Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but leading figures in the current government have called for them to be re-established and for much of the Palestinian population of the territory to be resettled elsewhere through what they describe as voluntary emigration. READ MORE: Kneecap correct BBC headline after TRNSMT show cancelled Palestinians view such plans as a blueprint for their forcible expulsion from their homeland, and experts say the plans would violate international law. Israel now controls more than 70% of Gaza, according to Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, who has examined Israeli-Palestinian land use patterns for decades. The area includes buffer zones along the border with Israel as well as the southern city of Rafah, which is now mostly uninhabited, and other large areas that Israel has ordered to be evacuated. Meanwhile, local hospitals have said that Israeli strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians overnight in Gaza. Four were killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City late on Wednesday and another eight, including two women and three children, were killed in a strike on a home in Jabaliya. A strike on a built-up refugee camp in central Gaza killed one person and wounded 18. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants are embedded in populated areas. More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, most of whom were women and children.
The National
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israel announces 22 new settlements in West Bank
They would include new settlements and the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation. It comes as Israeli strikes killed 13 people in Gaza overnight, according to local health officials. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state. READ MORE: Row erupts on BBC Debate Night over 'racist' Reform UK ad Settlements have been widely condemned by the international community as illegal, with the UK Government announcing sanctions last week on three people and four organisations in the settler movement. Israel's defence minister Israel Katz said the settlement decision 'strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria', using the biblical term for the West Bank, 'anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism'. He added it was also 'a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel'. Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small hilltop outposts to fully developed communities with blocks of flats, shopping centres, factories and public parks. The West Bank is home to three million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering population centres. The settlers have Israeli citizenship. Israel has accelerated settlement construction in recent years – long before Hamas's October 7 2023 attack escalated its assault on Gaza – confining Palestinians to smaller and smaller areas of the West Bank and making the prospect of establishing a viable, independent state even more remote. The top United Nations court ruled last year that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on it to end, and for settlement construction to stop immediately. Israel denounced the non-binding opinion by a 15-judge panel of the International Court of Justice, saying the territories are part of the historic homeland of the Jewish people. Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but leading figures in the current government have called for them to be re-established and for much of the Palestinian population of the territory to be resettled elsewhere through what they describe as voluntary emigration. READ MORE: Kneecap correct BBC headline after TRNSMT show cancelled Palestinians view such plans as a blueprint for their forcible expulsion from their homeland, and experts say the plans would likely violate international law. Israel now controls more than 70% of Gaza, according to Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, who has examined Israeli-Palestinian land use patterns for decades. The area includes buffer zones along the border with Israel as well as the southern city of Rafah, which is now mostly uninhabited, and other large areas that Israel has ordered to be evacuated. Meanwhile, local hospitals have said that Israeli strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians overnight in Gaza. Four were killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City late on Wednesday and another eight, including two women and three children, were killed in a strike on a home in Jabaliya. A strike on a built-up refugee camp in central Gaza killed one person and wounded 18. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants are embedded in populated areas. More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, most of whom were women and children.
NBC News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
No safe place left in Gaza as Israel's ‘humanitarian zones' shrink
After launching its offensive following the Hamas-led terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel created a sweeping buffer zone along the entirety of its western border with Gaza, while cutting off the north from the rest of the enclave with the establishment of the Netzarim Corridor. Sitting to the south of Gaza City it stretches from Israel's western border with Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea. But since March 18, maps released by the IDF indicate an expansion of its security zone around the corridor. To the south, it has stationed its forces along the Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza's southern border with Egypt and taken control of the border crossing in the city of Rafah, once designated a safe zone for Palestinians. On April 12, Israel said it had completed what it calls the ' Morag Corridor ' to the north of Rafah and south of the city of Khan Younis, effectively sealing Rafah off from the rest of the enclave. 'No longer protective' As well as taking territory, the Israeli military routinely issues evacuation orders or designates areas as 'no-go zones.' But the United Nations estimated in mid-April that around 70% of Gaza was under one or both of these. This has left 'Palestinians in Gaza with no safe place to go and little to survive on,' it said in a statement. Yaakov Garb, an environmental studies professor at Ben Gurion University in Israel who has been studying the Israeli military's maps, told NBC News in a phone interview last month that he estimated Israel's buffer zones and other restricted areas now account for around 48% of the Gaza Strip. 'These buffers are no longer protective of Israel,' Garb said. 'They're more kind of moats around enclaves,' he said, referring to the increasingly packed areas that Palestinians are being ordered to evacuate to. Humanitarian zones have vanished The majority of the evacuation orders issued by the IDF since March 18 have seen Palestinians in northern Gaza ordered to move to Gaza City, while those under evacuation orders in central and southern Gaza have been funneled toward 'known shelters' in Khan Younis and Al-Mawasi. Prior to the ceasefire that began on Jan. 19, the IDF would frequently refer to Al-Mawasi as the 'humanitarian zone' in its evacuation orders. But after it resumed its offensive, those references appeared to vanish. The IDF told NBC News in a statement last week that Al-Mawasi was 'currently not defined as a safe zone.' It added that evacuation zones would also change 'in accordance with IDF operations' in the enclave. Asked if anywhere in Gaza was considered a 'safe zone,' the IDF did not respond. However, Palestinians in Gaza have said nowhere in the enclave has been 'safe' throughout the war, which began after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Palestinian health officials say the Israeli offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza since then. Even when Al-Mawasi was designated as a humanitarian zone, repeated Israeli strikes were reported in the area. 'They used to drop leaflets telling us to head to 'safe zones,'' Ahmed Alam Sobhy Abou Nama said in an interview last week at the camp in Al-Mawasi where he sheltering. He added that they didn't go 'because in Gaza, there is no 'safe zone.'' Hany Daboor, a member of Gaza's Civil Defense, said civilians were increasingly calling the agency to express concerns over what they believed was the targeting of safe zones in Israeli strikes. Echoing Abou Nama, he said, 'There is no 'safe zone.'' Now, as Israel continues to expand its security zones in the enclave, fears are growing about the increasingly limited space within which civilians can seek relative safety. 'We feel that we are all been blockaded in a small zone,' Abou Nama said. 'Part of the war' But Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, maintained that Israel's latest measures are aimed at pressuring Hamas — not to 'reduce the size of the Gaza Strip for the sake of annexation or something like that.' Still, he said it was likely that Israel would maintain control of buffer zones and seized territory indefinitely, or at least until Hamas' rule in Gaza is brought to an end, with a new system of authority ushered in. 'We are still in a war against Hamas. And this is part of the war,' he said.
Al-Ahram Weekly
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Israel controls 50% of Gaza squeezing Palestinians into shrinking wedges of land - War on Gaza
Israel has dramatically expanded its footprint in Gaza since relaunching its war on the Strip last month. It now controls more than 50% of the territory and is squeezing Palestinians into shrinking wedges of land. The largest contiguous area the army controls is around the Gaza border, where the occupation army has razed Palestinian homes, farmland and infrastructure to the point of uninhabitability, according to Israeli soldiers and rights groups. This military buffer zone has doubled in size in recent weeks. Israel has depicted its tightening grip as a temporary necessity, but the land Israel holds, which includes a corridor that divides the territory's north from south, could be used for wielding long-term control, human rights groups and Gaza experts say. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that even after Hamas is defeated, Israel will keep security control in Gaza and push Palestinians to leave their homeland. The demolition close to the Israeli border and the systematic expansion of the buffer zone have been going on since the war began 18 months ago, five Israeli soldiers told The Associated Press. 'They destroyed everything they could, they shot everything that looks functioning ... the Palestinians will have nothing to come back, they will not come back, never,' a soldier deployed with a tank squad guarding the demolition teams said. He and four other soldiers spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. A report documenting the accounts of soldiers who were in the buffer zone was released Monday by Breaking The Silence, an anti-occupation veterans group. A handful of soldiers -- including some who also spoke to AP -- described watching the army turn the zone into a vast wasteland. 'Through widespread, deliberate destruction, the military laid the groundwork for future Israeli control of the area,' said the group. This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the town of Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in March, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) Carving Gaza into sections In the early days of the war, Israeli troops forced Palestinians from communities near the border and destroyed the land to create a buffer zone more than a kilometer (0.62 miles) deep, according to Breaking The Silence. Its troops also seized a swath of land across Gaza known as the Netzarim Corridor that isolated the north, including Gaza City, from the rest of the narrow, coastal strip, home to more than 2 million people. When Israel resumed the war last month, it doubled the size of the buffer zone, pushing it as far as 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) into Gaza in some places, according to a map issued by the occupation army. The buffer zone and the Netzarim Corridor make up at least 50% of the strip, said Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, who has been examining the land use patterns for decades. Last week, Netanyahu said Israel intends to create another corridor that slices across southern Gaza, cutting off the city of Rafah from the rest of the territory. Israel's control of Gaza is even greater taking into account areas where it recently ordered civilians to evacuate ahead of planned attacks. Neighborhoods turned into rubble Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians used to live in the land that now makes up an Israeli zone, an area that was key to Gaza's agricultural output. Satellite images show once-dense neighborhoods turned to rubble, as well as nearly a dozen new Israeli army outposts since the ceasefire ended. When the ceasefire was announced in January, Nidal Alzaanin went back to his home in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. His property stood on the edge of the buffer zone and lay in ruins. All that remains is a photo of him and his wife on their wedding day, a drawing of his son's face on a porcelain plate and the carcass of a 150-year-old sycamore tree planted by his great-grandfather. His greenhouse was reduced to twisted scraps of metal. The 55-year-old farmer pitched a tent in the rubble, hoping to rebuild his life. But when Israel resumed its war and seized his land, he was again uprooted. 'It took 20 years to build a house and within five minutes they destroyed all my dreams and my children's dreams,' he said from Gaza City, where he now shelters. Israel's bombardment and ground offensives throughout the war have left vast swaths of Gaza's cities and towns destroyed. But the razing of property inside the buffer zone has been more methodical and extensive, soldiers said. The five soldiers who spoke to the AP said Israeli troops were ordered to destroy farmland, irrigation pipes, crops and trees as well as thousands of buildings, including residential and public structures. Several soldiers said their units demolished more buildings than they could count, including large industrial complexes. A soda factory was leveled, leaving shards of glass and solar panels strewn on the ground. Soldier says buffer zone was a 'kill' zone The soldiers said the buffer zone had no marked boundaries but that Palestinians who entered were shot at. The soldier with the tank squad said an armored bulldozer flattened land, creating a 'kill zone' and that anyone who came within 500 meters of the tanks would be shot, including women and children. Visibly shaken, he said many of the soldiers acted out of vengeance for the Oct. 7 attack. 'I came there because they kill us and now we're going to kill them. And I found out that we're not only killing them. We're killing them, we're killing their wives, their children, their cats, their dogs, and we destroyed their houses,' he said. The army said its attacks are based on intelligence and that it avoids 'as much as possible, harm to non-combatants.' Long-term hold? It is unclear how long Israel intends to hold the buffer zone and other territory inside Gaza. Some Israeli analysts claim the purpose of the buffer zone isn't to occupy Gaza but to secure it until Hamas is dismantled. But forcibly displacing people is a potential war crime and a crime against humanity. Within Gaza's buffer zones, specifically, it amounts to 'ethnic cleansing,' because it was clear people would never be allowed to return, said Nadia Hardman, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Boston Globe
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Israel controls 50 percent of Gaza as Palestinians get squeezed into shrinking wedges of land
Advertisement Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that even after Hamas is defeated, Israel will keep security control in Gaza and push Palestinians to leave. The demolition close to the Israeli border and the systematic expansion of the buffer zone has been going on since the war began 18 months ago, five Israeli soldiers told The Associated Press. 'They destroyed everything they could, they shot everything that looks functioning ... (the Palestinians) will have nothing to come back, they will not come back, never,' a soldier deployed with a tank squad guarding the demolition teams said. He and four other soldiers spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. A report documenting the accounts of soldiers who were in the buffer zone was released Monday by Breaking The Silence, an anti-occupation veterans group. A handful of soldiers -- including some who also spoke to AP -- described watching the army turn the zone into a vast wasteland. Advertisement 'Through widespread, deliberate destruction, the military laid the groundwork for future Israeli control of the area,' said the group. Asked about the soldiers' accounts, the Israeli army said it is acting to protect its country and especially to improve security in southern communities devastated by the Oct. 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. The army said it does not seek to harm civilians in Gaza, and that it abides by international law. Carving Gaza into sections In the early days of the war, Israeli troops forced Palestinians from communities near the border and destroyed the land to create a buffer zone more than a kilometer (0.62 miles) deep, according to Breaking The Silence. Its troops also seized a swath of land across Gaza known as the Netzarim Corridor that isolated the north, including Gaza City, from the rest of the narrow, coastal strip, home to more than 2 million people. When Israel resumed the war last month, it doubled the size of the buffer zone, pushing it as far as 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) into Gaza in some places, according to a map issued by the military. The buffer zone and the Netzarim Corridor make up at least 50% of the strip, said Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, who has been examining Israeli-Palestinian land use patterns for decades. Last week, Netanyahu said Israel intends to create another corridor that slices across southern Gaza, cutting off the city of Rafah from the rest of the territory. Israel's control of Gaza is even greater taking into account areas where it recently ordered civilians to evacuate ahead of planned attacks. Advertisement Neighborhoods turned into rubble Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians used to live in the land that now makes up Israel's buffer zone, an area that was key to Gaza's agricultural output. Satellite images show once dense neighborhoods turned to rubble, as well as nearly a dozen new Israeli army outposts since the ceasefire ended. When the ceasefire was announced in January, Nidal Alzaanin went back to his home in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. His property stood on the edge of the buffer zone and lay in ruins. All that remains is a photo of him and his wife on their wedding day, a drawing of his son's face on a porcelain plate and the carcass of a 150-year-old sycamore tree planted by his great-grandfather. His greenhouse was reduced to twisted scraps of metal. The 55-year-old farmer pitched a tent in the rubble, hoping to rebuild his life. But when Israel resumed its campaign and seized his land, he was again uprooted. 'It took 20 years to build a house and within five minutes they destroyed all my dreams and my children's dreams,' he said from Gaza City, where he now shelters. Israel's bombardment and ground offensives throughout the war have left vast swaths of Gaza's cities and towns destroyed. But the razing of property inside the buffer zone has been more methodical and extensive, soldiers said. The five soldiers who spoke to the AP said Israeli troops were ordered to destroy farmland, irrigation pipes, crops and trees as well as thousands of buildings, including residential and public structures, so that militants had nowhere to hide. Advertisement Several soldiers said their units demolished more buildings than they could count, including large industrial complexes. A soda factory was leveled, leaving shards of glass and solar panels strewn on the ground. Soldier alleges buffer zone was a 'kill' zone The soldiers said the buffer zone had no marked boundaries, but that Palestinians who entered were shot at. The soldier with the tank squad said an armored bulldozer flattened land creating a 'kill zone' and that anyone who came within 500 meters of the tanks would be shot, including women and children. Visibly shaken, he said many of the soldiers acted out of vengeance for the Oct. 7 attack. 'I came there because they kill us and now we're going to kill them. And I found out that we're not only killing them. We're killing them, we're killing their wives, their children, their cats, their dogs, and we destroyed their houses,' he said. The army said its attacks are based on intelligence and that it avoids 'as much as possible, harm to non-combatants.' Long-term hold? It is unclear how long Israel intends to hold the buffer zone and other territory inside Gaza. In announcing the new corridor across southern Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel aims to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, of whom 35 are believed dead. He also said the war can only end when Hamas is destroyed and its leaders leave Gaza, at which point Israel would take control of security in the territory. Then, Netanyahu said, Israel would implement U.S. President Donald Trump's call to move Palestinians from Gaza, what Israel calls 'voluntary emigration.' Advertisement Some Israel analysts say the purpose of the buffer zone isn't to occupy Gaza, but to secure it until Hamas is dismantled. 'This is something that any sane country will do with regard to its borders when the state borders a hostile entity,' said Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at two Israeli think tanks, the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute. But rights group say forcibly displacing people is a potential war crime and crime against humanity. Within Gaza's buffer zones, specifically, it amounts to 'ethnic cleansing,' because it was clear people would never be allowed to return, said Nadia Hardman, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. Israel called the accusations baseless and said it evacuates civilians from combat areas to protect them. Associated Press reporter Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington.
