Israel has set its sights on a potential annexation of northern Gaza, framing it as a “closed military zone.” This comes one year after the same area endured an all-out ground assault. Coupled with Israel’s newly established “buffer zone” and the occupation of two corridors in central and southern Gaza, the territory is being gradually eroded.
In late October 2023, Israel launched its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, concentrating primarily on the northern portion of the besieged enclave. At the same time, Israel issued demands for medical staff at all major hospitals to abandon their facilities.
It then released CGI imagery depicting a “Hamas headquarters” under al-Shifa Hospital, which was later debunked after the medical facility was bombed and invaded. It had also ordered some 1.1 million civilians to flee towards the South, where “safe zones” were said to be located. Today, Israel has again shifted its focus onto northern Gaza, ordering the civilian population to flee and signaling to the remaining staff of the Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and Al-Awda Hospitals that they should immediately evacuate or be subjected to consequences of another military assault.
Israel has now coupled its invasion of the Jabalia Refugee Camp with speculation that the government is moving forward with a plan reportedly considered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in secret meetings back in September. This plan, publicly supported by certain Israeli members of the Knesset and former military officials, involves seizing northern Gaza and declaring it a “closed military zone.”
According to Haaretz, Netanyahu’s administration is now preparing to enter the “next phase” of its war on Gaza, which could result in the de facto annexation of the area north of the Netzarim Corridor. This corridor, which has been occupied by the Israeli military, effectively splits the Gaza Strip in half. It played a crucial role in the breakdown of previous ceasefire talks, as Israel refused to agree to a permanent withdrawal from the area.
The possibility of allowing Jewish settlers to establish colonies in northern Gaza is also being discussed. Since January, the settler movement has held conferences promoting this topic, signaling growing support for the idea.
Additionally, on May 6, after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire proposal, the Israeli military immediately invaded the Rafah Crossing in southern Gaza. The invasion continued until Israel’s forces occupied the entire Palestine-Egypt border area, known as the Philadelphia Corridor. This, along with the destruction of infrastructure and agricultural land on Gaza’s outskirts over the past year to create a new “buffer zone,” has effectively reduced Gaza into an even smaller enclave. Over 1.5 million people are now crammed into overcrowded, unsanitary tent cities.
Amnesty International published a report on Israel’s “buffer zone,” concluding that the area covered roughly 16% of Gaza’s total land mass. The group called for an investigation into what they described as war crimes.
In July, reports emerged that Israel had attempted to create “Hamas-free bubble zones” in northern Gaza, aiming to use Palestinian collaborators to control specific areas independently and undermine Hamas’s influence. When this strategy failed, a new approach emerged in September: ethnically cleansing hundreds of thousands of civilians, declaring the north a closed military zone, and besieging the remaining resistance fighters.
Despite Israel’s extensive assault on Gaza—actions the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has acknowledged as a plausible genocide—Hamas demonstrated its ongoing capability to launch M90 rockets at Tel Aviv as recently as October 7, 2024. There is no clear indication that Israel can achieve its stated goal of defeating Hamas, as Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari has acknowledged. Yet, the U.S. and Israel continue to reject ceasefire negotiations, choosing to prolong the conflict instead.
Feature photo | An Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier stands in the ruins of a destroyed building in Gaza. September 13, 2024. Ilia Yefimovich | AP
Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47
