Israel expands occupation of Gaza to 70 percent as it prepares new ground invasion
And how would plans for Gaza’s “green zones” sit with Jared Kushner?
Far from adhering to the terms of the “ceasefire” agreed in October last year, the Israelis have expanded their occupation of the Gaza Strip to 70 percent and are pushing to entrench their presence in yet more Palestinian territory in the coming months. Furthermore, the genocidal Israeli military is preparing to launch yet another ground assault on the besieged enclave.
“Israel’s defence establishment assesses that the IDF’s operational control in the Gaza Strip, which has reached roughly 70 percent of the territory, may expand further in the coming months,” Israeli outlet Walla reported.
“It is possible that the scope of operational control in Palestinian territory will increase in the coming months, while Hamas is ostensibly dragging its feet, entrenching itself on the ground, recruiting operatives, and preparing for war with Israel,” Walla quoted a “security source” as saying.
Walla also revealed that the Israeli occupation continues to entrench itself deep inside Palestinian territory:
At the same time, the IDF continues to expand its network of new routes and roads, upgrade positions facing the yellow line, improve intelligence-gathering technologies, and reinforce both regular and reserve forces.
Last month, Netanyahu boasted about occupying 60 percent of Gaza and revealed that he had directed the genocidal Israeli military to get to 70 percent. “At this point, we are fully in control of 60 percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip… and my directive is to get to… 70 percent,” Netanyahu told a gathering in the West Bank.
When a genocidal Israeli implored him to occupy all of Gaza, Netanyahu assured the eager audience that 70 percent was just a start. “First 70 percent,” the fugitive war criminal told the fellow genocide connoisseur, “we’ll start with that.”
Those plans now appear to be well underway.
Walla also revealed “three major efforts in the Gaza Strip”:
Neutralising threats along the yellow line, expanding operational control and upgrading defences, and preparing for another campaign against Hamas — alongside shaping the Rafah area as part of the American plan for a “Green City.”
Since the arbitrary yellow line keeps moving westward, squeezing genocide survivors into ever tighter spaces, anyone who wanders into its vicinity becomes a target of Israeli fire. The Israelis have killed dozens of Palestinians for the “crime” of venturing too close to the so-called yellow line.
Israeli press has previously reported on the military’s plans to launch another ground invasion of Gaza. The latest reporting further lends credence to those reports, indicating that Israeli political and military leaders are keen on expanded ground operations, especially in Gaza City, where most genocide survivors have found refuge following the complete razing of the northern and southern parts of their homeland.
Walla shed light on Israeli-American plans to start a construction project in devastated Rafah in southern Gaza. According to the outlet, “the plan involves shaping the area and preparing for the possibility that the Americans may be called upon to implement the establishment of the ‘green city’ in the Rafah region — an area envisioned as free of terrorism — even if Hamas does not disarm and even if a multinational force does not enter the area.”
“Walla has learned that, in the first phase, the United States intends to build facilities for 50,000 Palestinians who will undergo security screening and then reside in the ‘green zone.’”
The plans for the so-called “green zone” came to light last November when The Guardian reported that “The US is planning for the long-term division of Gaza into a ‘green zone’ under Israeli and international military control, where reconstruction would start, and a ‘red zone’ to be left in ruins.”
Since the announcement of the “ceasefire,” the Israelis have been busy erasing all the structures left standing in the areas they occupy. Rafah has been completely flattened, and private Jewish contractors have been documented bringing down bombed-out structures to pave the way for new construction.
However, no permanent structures have so far been reported as having been built. The leaked plans for the proposed “green zone” reek of dystopia. Residents of these areas would be heavily vetted for any links to the resistance, after which they would be given biometric access cards to their residences. The whole area would be under constant Israeli surveillance and policed entirely by the Israelis or by the forces of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), which has yet to materialise.
These colour-coded zones, if they ever come to fruition, will serve as tools of forced ghettoisation, turning vast portions of Gaza into closed Israeli military zones. It is a grotesque idea, but it is still unlikely to be realised, since the Israelis want Gaza completely clear of all Palestinians. Israel Katz has publicly announced plans for the “voluntary emigration” of all of Gaza’s residents. Such calls have been made by other Israeli officials before him.
These zone plans are also unlikely to sit well with the vultures circling over Gaza’s spoils. Trump’s son-in-law and fellow grifter Jared Kushner has been eyeing Gaza as a real estate bonanza for years. “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable,” Kushner said at an event at Harvard back in March 2024.
Kushner certainly would not want to see ghettoised Palestinians going about their daily lives while he savours his leisurely breakfast in a beachfront Rafah penthouse built on the bones and blood of a Palestinian family erased entirely from the database.
I’ve never put up a paywall, but this newsletter wouldn’t be possible without your support. If you are able, please consider supporting my work with a paid subscription here, on Ko-fi, or on Patreon. You can also buy me a coffee or two at the link below. Thank you!
The image of Kushner stopped me cold. Vulture, vampire. Not a man, but a thing feeding off flesh, vital or devitalized. So appropriate that he's married to a Trump. A sociological fiasco.
Where is the great United Nations? Why do they say and do, nothing? Why is zionist israel still allowed into the UN? Why has no peacekeeping army been sent to Palestine?
‘United Nations’ is a misnomer, to say the least. If the organisation is to continue at all, its headquarters should be moved to a neutral country, away from the warmongering usa/israel. There should be no power of veto for anyone, and all countries should have equal voting rights. Only in this way can there ever be justice.
The only threats to world peace come from the usa/israel - both of who are despicable and grossly immoral. Both should be shunned by the rest of the world as the evil, inhumane, pariahs they are. If every other country on the planet refused to have anything to do with them, they might actually start to realise how precarious and untenable their position could become.