Israel has now conducted its main military operation in the Gaza Strip but has not been able to secure the release of hostages or reduce Hamas‘ control of the area.
According to Haaretz, to achieve its goals, Israel is implementing the “Generals’ Plan” to take control of the northern Gaza Strip.
All of this comes as the U.S. has issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu to resolve the crisis in the region, followed today by U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy calling for a “dire humanitarian situation” and announcing a request for an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
The U.N. says access to basic services is deteriorating with little food having entered the region in the last two weeks, but that doesn’t seem to be slowing down Netanyahu’s plan.
What is the Generals’ plan based on
The plan was proposed by generals of the Israeli armed forces, based on the following conclusions:
Firstly, that the pressure exerted to free the hostages by Hamas did not produce the desired result;
Second, the Israeli forces have not been able to conduct any other operations to enable them to neutralize Hamas militarily and organizationally;
Thirdly, there is a big difference between the political and military leadership’s view of how the war is progressing.
The key points of the plan for Gaza
Four things allow Hamas to maintain its survival: money, manpower, supplies and incentives. It secures these by controlling the mechanism for distributing humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
According to the Institute for National Security Studies, the only way to damage Hamas’ ability to recover is to target one or more of these four resources by imposing a siege in northern Gaza. Depleting those assets will put pressure on Hamas without violating international law.
The IDF will demand that the residents of northern Gaza (north of the Netzarim corridor), some 300,000 people, evacuate southern Gaza through two humanitarian crossings within a week. Following the evacuation, the northern Gaza Strip will be declared a closed military zone, and a full siege will be imposed, which will include blocking the entry of food, water and fuel.
The siege will only be lifted if some 5,000 fighters lay down their arms and surrender. It is likely that this pressure will facilitate progress towards a hostage deal.
According to the plan, evacuating the population from northern Gaza and imposing a siege on the area would bring Hamas closer to surrender. If Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar chooses to continue fighting, the plan could be applied to other areas, such as Rafah and refugee camps in central Gaza.
What analysts say
Assaf David, co-founder of the Forum for Regional Thinking and head of the Israel in the Middle East Cluster at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, told Middle East Eye that he believes the Israeli army is implementing the plan to put pressure on Hamas, assuming it is the same organization it was a year ago.
“This is an illusion. It is not the same organization (Hamas) and it is not in the same position. It has lost a lot of its military capabilities and its resilience and strength in Gaza,” David said.
“This is not what will bring the hostages back home and the government knows that. I think the government let the hostages go and they don’t care if they die.”
“This is complete nonsense.”
Yagil Levy, an associate professor at the Open University of Israel, recently told the In Radio with Kletzkin podcast that the plan, in addition to being morally flawed, it shows no understanding of how international relations work.
“This idea that Gaza can be turned into a concentration camp, that every time people are moved according to the whims of the Israeli side, and that all of this will work and that when we want it all to stop, all of this will stop and then Gaza will return to normal. This is complete nonsense,” Levy said.
Lastly, Levy said that “the October 7 attack showed that it is impossible to keep a population of millions under siege, even when some of us incidentally deny their existence.”
