'Kill zone': Report says Israel systematically destroyed homes on Gaza boundary

A new report from an organization of veteran soldiers who have served in the Israeli military has exposed the regime’s harsh method to create a sprawling buffer zone between Gaza and the occupied territories deeper into the coastal sliver.

According to the report by the Israeli rights group Breaking the Silence (BtS), Israeli forces razed entire residential districts and flattened farmland in war-wracked Gaza to open a “kill zone” around the enclave.

The troops’ testimonies were published on Monday by Breaking the Silence (BtS) in a report titled The Perimeter: Soldiers' testimonies from the Gaza Buffer Zone 2023-2024.

The report contains information gathered from interviews with numerous Israeli soldiers who were deployed in Gaza, and took part in the development of the so-called buffer zone, which the report refers to as the perimeter.

A warrant officer from the Israeli army, who featured in the report and served in northern Gaza between January and February 2024, informed BtS that the buffer zone would extend up to 1.5 kilometers into Gaza, prohibiting civilian access and resulting in the destruction of all structures within that area.

'Like Hiroshima'

When asked what the area would look like after they were through, they replied, “Hiroshima. That's what I'm saying, Hiroshima.”

“This is a policy by the current Israeli administration, which leads us to a future of no security,” Joel Carmel, advocacy director at BtS, said.

Carmel pointed out that Israel's persistent attempts to extend the perimeter into Gaza during the conflict indicate that the expanded zone, which restricts Palestinian access, could become a permanent fixture in post-war Gaza, and that Israel is shaping a future for Gaza where “no one can ever come back” to that area.

Carmel went on to point to a statement by Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen in October 2023 where he said that “Gaza's territory will shrink” after the war wraps up.

Israel plans to cut off Rafah from rest of Gaza by establishing new corridor

The Israeli plan will effectively cut off southern city of Rafah from the rest of the blockaded Palestinian territory.

One soldier who spoke to BtS served as a sergeant first class in northern Gaza in November 2023. They said that their unit was tasked with blowing up more than 100 buildings in the perimeter during their offensive in Gaza. 

According to the sergeant, who requested anonymity, Israeli troops were informed during a briefing that the locations designated for destruction were in close proximity to Israeli settlements and cities, posing a security risk that necessitated their elimination.

The sergeant highlighted that this was the first instance in which the perimeter was referenced throughout their mission.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial attack on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing at least 1,391 people, injuring 3,434 others, and shattering the ceasefire agreement with Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinian abductees.

According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 50,750 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 115,470 other individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

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