Netanyahu examining siege plan for Hamas in north Gaza

23/9/2024 6:09

        Israel is examining a
        plan to use siege tactics against Hamas in northern Gaza, Prime
        Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by several Israeli media
        outlets as saying on Sunday.
        
        Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment.
        The reports cited unnamed sources at a closed parliament
        committee meeting.
        
        The plan, published by retired military commanders and
        floated by some parliament members this month, suggests
        Palestinian civilians would be instructed to evacuate northern
        Gaza, which would then be declared a closed military zone.
        
        An estimated 5,000 Hamas militants remaining there would
        then be put under siege until they surrender. Army Radio
        reported that Netanyahu told lawmakers at parliament's Foreign
        Affairs and Defence Committee that it was being examined.
        
        Public broadcaster Kan quoted Netanyahu as saying that the
        blueprint "makes sense" and that "it is one of the plans being
        considered but there are others as well."
        
        Israel has faced fierce international criticism for the
        humanitarian crisis brought on by its nearly one-year offensive
        against the Hamas militant group in Gaza.
        
        Most of Gaza's population has been displaced. An estimated
        one million people - half the population - are currently crammed
        into a designated humanitarian zone that makes up less than 15%
        of the territory and is lacking essential infrastructure and
        services, according to the United Nations.
        
        Humanitarian access to northern Gaza, where estimates of the
        population run between 300,000 and 500,000 people - is
        especially difficult, according to the United Nations.
        
        The war was sparked when Hamas-led militants burst into
        Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians,
        and taking another 250 hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli
        tallies.
        
        More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the
        Israeli offensive since, according to the Gaza health ministry.
        Gaza health officials say most are civilians.
        
        Israel, which has lost 346 soldiers in Gaza, says at least a
        third of the Palestinian fatalities are fighters.