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.

Archive link to the full article

  • @qwertyqwertyqwertyEnglish
    12•5 months ago

    Israel is going to do whatever Israel wants to do, and the US is going to do absolutely nothing to stop it, and in fact, will support all actions being taken by Israel. People can’t even talk about what is really happening over there because they would be risking their job and livelihood by doing so. It’s fucked up.

    Imagine if during WW2, you couldn’t mention the concentration camps or the gas chambers, lest the government, media, and general public send your reputation into oblivion.