Following careful consideration of the siege strategy, Israel intensifies its military operations in the northern region of Gaza.
This week, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) initiated an operation based on intelligence indicating the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in Jabalya, a region in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as Hamas's efforts to strengthen its operational capabilities in the area. In reality, the offensive has escalated beyond the Jabalya refugee camp.
Sources close to CNN have reported that the Israeli cabinet has not adopted the siege proposal proposed by retired general Giora Eiland. However, the ongoing operation bears a striking resemblance to Eiland's plan, which he presented both publicly and in private to the cabinet and Knesset, Israel's parliament.
A retired senior military official, aware of the Israeli government and security leadership's thinking, but not directly involved in decision-making, informed CNN that the cabinet had in fact adopted a version of Eiland's proposal. Eiland himself acknowledged this, although he emphasized that there were significant differences between his plan and the one being implemented on the ground.
The operation comes amidst the Israeli government's consideration of several plans to restructure the conflict in Gaza.
Last month, Eiland proposed evicting all civilians from northern Gaza, including Gaza City, and cutting off all supplies to the area. The goal, according to him, was to reset the conflict and disrupt the calculations of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. "Today, Sinwar is not really under stress," Eiland stated in a video released at the time.
The retired military official told CNN that the government had adopted the need to take more actions in Gaza, with the aim of changing Sinwar's thinking, but without violating international law.
There was no plan to allow Gazan civilians to return to northern Gaza in Eiland's proposal, Retired Major-General Gershon Hacohen, involved in its drafting, informed CNN. Such a situation would inevitably invite accusations of ethnic cleansing, a charge that has already been raised by scholars such as Omer Bartov, a Holocaust and genocide studies professor at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Eiland informed CNN through text message that the cabinet was indeed following his recommendation to gain control of the northern Gaza Strip, but was not implementing Eiland's recommended siege (after evacuating civilians) and halting the entry of supplies into the area.
On Monday, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians in the northernmost communities of Gaza – Beit Hanoun, Jabalya, and Beit Lahia – to evacuate and relocate to Al Mawasi, an Israel-designated "humanitarian area" in southern Gaza, which itself has been subjected to heavy aerial bombardment for months.
The IDF expanded the mandatory evacuation zones on Saturday, issuing notices by drop and posting on social media, urging residents in the Nazla area and more parts of Jabalya to leave.
The IDF spokesperson declared that the military is conducting extreme operations against terrorist organizations and plans to continue doing so for an extended period. "Evacuate the area immediately via Salah al-Din Street to the humanitarian zone," Avichay Adraee stated on social media.
Most intense activity
Food deliveries to northern Gaza have almost completely stopped since the IDF initiated its renewed operation in the region this week. The World Food Programme informed CNN on Friday that no food trucks had entered northern Gaza since the start of the month.
"Virtually the entire area is under evacuation orders, and thousands of families have been displaced, forced to flee amid intense airstrikes and ground military operations," the WFP stated in a report issued on Wednesday. "With the main aid crossings into northern Gaza closed and WFP partner kitchens forced to shut down, the WFP is unable to distribute food to families in need."
CNN requested comment from the IDF regarding the blockage of aid deliveries.
In a closed-doork meeting with the Knesset committee last month, Netanyahu expressed support for the "Generals' Plan," as it was dubbed, saying that it "makes a lot of sense," according to Israel's national broadcaster Kan, a CNN affiliate. He cited the plan as one of several ideas being considered to alter the course of the conflict in Gaza, which is now in its second year.
Palestinians in northern Gaza report that this week has seen some of the most intense military activity of the conflict. Many, wary of repeated evacuation orders that result in areas they move to becoming targeted, are choosing to ignore the orders. "Anyone who wants to leave northern Gaza wants to die," Jabalya resident Mohammad Ibrahim told CNN by phone this week.
Palestinians fleeing the renewed operation have reportedly been shot at as they evacuate, according to testimony from residents and footage shared with CNN documenting their journey. CNN requested comment from the IDF on this matter.
"Even the basic necessities of life for the besieged people are unavailable," Ibrahim stated. "There is no clean drinking water, no healthy food, no medicine, no treatment, and no hospitals operating at full capacity. In some cases, they are even bombed."
Dr. Hussam Abu Saifiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, confirmed that the IDF instructed his facility, along with Al Awda and the Indonesian hospitals, to evacuate within 24 hours on Tuesday. They were not informed of their destination. Hospital officials argue that it is impossible to leave the area safely due to the IDF's intense bombardment.
This week, the World Health Organization made seven attempts to reach northern Gaza, but each attempt was either hindered or rejected, as announced by Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday.
According to his statement, issued on X, the medical team was unable to transfer critical patients from Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, and Indonesian hospitals to Al-Ahli and Al-Shifa due to excessive waiting times of more than 10 hours at the checkpoints.
Eugenia Yosef, Abeer Salman, and Eyad Kourdi from CNN were instrumental in compiling this report.
The operation conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Middle East, specifically in the Gaza Strip, has led to significant disruptions in the world's food delivery efforts to northern Gaza. According to the World Food Programme, no food trucks have entered the area since the IDF initiated its operation this week.
Despite the ongoing conflict, the Middle East, including the Gaza Strip, remains a region of interest for strategic planning. Last month, retired general Giora Eiland proposed evacuating all civilians from northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to reset the conflict and put pressure on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
