Netanyahu considering emptying northern Gaza, starving it of supplies

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan to cut all humanitarian aid off from northern Gaza in an effort to starve out Hamas terrorists.

Israel’s military has ordered the evacuation of the north multiple times already, the most recent of which was over the weekend. A group of retired generals have come up with a plan, which Netanyahu is considering, that they argue would increase pressure on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages that they have held for more than a year.

In the plan, Israel would give Palestinians a week to leave northern Gaza before declaring it a closed military zone and cutting off food, water, medicine, and fuel. The Palestinians who choose not to abide by the order, terrorists or civilians, would be considered combatants.

It also calls for Israel to maintain control of northern Gaza for an indefinite period of time to create a new administration. It’s unclear how seriously Netanyahu is considering this plan, and he told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in a closed session last month that it's one of several plans being considered, according to the Times of Israel .

This plan was presented to Israel’s parliament last month and the prime minister’s office has since reached out for more details, according to its chief architect, Giora Eiland, a former head of the Israeli National Security Council.

“We have to tell the residents of north Gaza that they have one week to evacuate the territory, which then becomes a military zone; [a zone] in which every figure is a target and, most importantly, no supplies enter this territory. A siege is not only an effective military tactic; it is also compliant with international law. What matters to Sinwar is land and dignity, and with this maneuver, you take away both land and dignity,” Eiland explained last month.

Officials said they believe roughly 300,000 Palestinians remain in northern Gaza despite the previous evacuation orders.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said it would not support any reduction in the size of Gaza. Foreign governments and human rights groups have reiterated the sentiment.

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“We are going to continue to make absolutely clear that it’s not just the United States that opposes any occupation of Gaza, any reduction of the — in the size of Gaza, but it is the virtual unanimous opinion of the international community,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said earlier this week. “We’re going to continue to make that clear to them.”

Hamas continues to hold about 100 hostages whom they kidnapped during their Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in southern Israel. They kidnapped about 250 people, though the terrorist group released slightly more than half of them during a weeklong ceasefire last November. Hamas has not released any of the hostages since then.