Netanyahu considers ‘surrender or starve’ plan for northern Gaza: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel’s military operations are intensifying in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) urging civilians to evacuate and move south. New reports suggest that this may be the precursor to a contentious plan to seal off humanitarian aid to the region, a strategy aimed at starving out Hamas militants but which could trap hundreds of thousands of Palestinians without food or water.
The plan, proposed to Netanyahu and the Israeli parliament by a group of retired generals and accessed by news agency The Associated Press, would give Palestinians in the northern third of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, a week to evacuate before declaring the area a closed military zone.
Those who remain would be considered combatants, subject to military regulations that allow troops to kill them, and would be denied essential supplies such as food, water, medicine, and fuel.
Dubbed the ‘Generals’ Plan’, this strategy is designed to dismantle Hamas leadership and break the armed group’s grip on northern Gaza by creating unbearable conditions for the civilian population.
The plan’s chief architect, Giora Eiland, a former head of the National Security Council, believes this is the only way to end the year-long war and pressure Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages.
“Since we already encircled the northern part of Gaza in the past nine or 10 months, what we should do is to tell all the 300,000 residents [estimated by the UN to be 400,000] who still live in the northern part of Gaza that they have to leave this area, and they should be given 10 days to leave through safe corridors that Israel will provide,” Eiland told the BBC.
“And after that time, all this area will become a military zone. All remaining Hamas fighters or civilians will have two choices: either surrender or starve,” he said.
Despite the detailed proposal, it remains unclear if the Israeli government will adopt the so-called Generals’ Plan.
When asked by AP whether the recent evacuation orders in northern Gaza were part of this strategy, Israeli military spokesperson Lt Col Nadav Shoshani denied the connection, saying, “We have not received a plan like that.”
However, an official with knowledge of the matter told AP that some parts of the plan were already being implemented, though they did not specify which.
Another Israeli official AP spoke to confirmed that Netanyahu had reviewed the plan, along with other proposals that had been presented during the conflict, but gave no indication of whether it had been approved.
However, it appears that Israel is already tightening the noose around northern Gaza. Israeli forces launched a fresh offensive against Hamas fighters in the Jabalia refugee camp north of Gaza City last week.
Moreover, no trucks carrying food, water, or medicine have entered the area this month, the UN said, leaving Palestinians in the north hanging by a thread.
Human rights groups are alarmed at the General’s Plan, warning that it could lead to widespread civilian suffering and would likely violate international laws, which prohibit the use of food as a weapon of war.
The United States also expressed opposition to any plan that would lead to direct Israeli occupation in Gaza. A State Department spokesperson stated that such a move is not supported by the US.