Beginning last November, an Israeli soldier and members of his reserve unit worked day after day in a northern section of the Gaza Strip to create a wasteland.

Their orders were to clear a 1-kilometer-wide area along the border, the soldier said, as part of an Israeli plan to construct a security zone just inside Gaza—to which Palestinians would be barred entry.

A kilometer-wide zone likely wouldn’t prevent future rocket launches or drone attacks from within Gaza by Hamas fighters and other militants who survive the war, analysts said.

Shaul Arieli, a former Israeli colonel who served in Israel’s Gaza division and is now an expert on Israeli borders, said the creation of a permanent buffer zone inside Gaza likely would be illegal under international law because Israel would be assuming control of land beyond its recognized territory and, as an occupying power, would be prohibited from altering boundaries.

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  • no bananaEnglish
    4•5 months ago

    I mean geopolitically it makes sense why Israel goes crazy and shows massive force when threatened but that doesn’t make any of this less sad or morally wrong.

    • Deceptichum
      16•5 months ago

      And it makes sense why Palestinians are drawn to groups like Hamas.

      • no bananaEnglish
        4•5 months ago

        It’s not like they have much of a choice. Hamas are shit, but they’re the most dependable thing in the strip, sadly.

    • @[email protected]English
      15•5 months ago

      Not to mention, if they really wanted a buffer zone, they’d use the space outside Gaza for that. It’s not built up except for some kibbutzes.

      This is a land grab, just like on the West bank. The buffer zone stuff is an excuse.

    • @LinkerbaanOPEnglish
      7•5 months ago

      Israel lost the second that Hamas entered through the gates on October 7th. They would have won if they stopped the invasion before it happened.

      Currently israel is just flailing at women and children while still completely unable to beat Hamas. Nobody is impressed by this. Israel looks weaker than ever before.

      Neighboring countries around israel such as Egypt and Jordan have American puppet regimes installed that receive massive amounts of money and weapons to surpress their populations.

      Israel is not impressing those countries, but rather making their populations so angry that the governments are risking being overthrown by the population if they don’t start attacking israel. Sisi is not a happy man right now.