The IDF has been establishing a wide buffer zone inside Gaza by demolishing buildings along the border, ignoring US warnings against reducing Gaza’s territory to just such ends, The Financial Times reported Wednesday.
The FT cited a person close to Israel’s security apparatus who said the work is intended to “keep this area completely clean of any terrorists or infrastructure, rocket launchers, mortars, and to give us the freedom of operation in that space.”
On Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told the White House press, “We do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way,” although Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week told reporters in Nigeria that the US is open to “transitional arrangements.”
To enforce the buffer zone, the IDF has demolished an estimated 1,100 buildings along the border inside Gaza, according to News12, which noted that the demolition plan calls for toppling 2,800 buildings altogether.
IDF Spokesman Richard Hecht stated that the army is “operating in the area in order to prevent Hamas activity threatening the citizens of Israel,” describing the assignment this way: “The IDF is locating and destroying terror infrastructures embedded, among other things, inside buildings. This is part of the imperative actions that are needed in order to implement a defense plan that will provide improved security in southern Israel.”
Former Shin Bet chief and current Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter explained, “On the Gaza Strip all along, we will have a margin. And they will not be able to get in. It will be a fire zone. And no matter who you are, you will never be able to come close to the Israeli border.”
Reuters reported on December 2, 2023, citing Egyptian and regional sources, that Israel had communicated to Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia its intention to establish a buffer zone inside the Gaza border, aiming to deter future attacks on its citizens.
Reuters cited a non-Israeli security official of one of the mentioned Arab states, who said, “Israel wants this buffer zone between Gaza and Israel from the north to the south to prevent any Hamas or other militants from infiltrating or attacking Israel.”
Ah, remember early December 2023, when some Arabs weren’t lying about the realities in the region? I miss that so much.
