Israeli officials propose security buffer zone in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun: Report

JERUSALEM

Israeli military officials have recommended establishing a permanent security buffer zone in parts of Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli media said on Sunday.

Senior officials proposed creating the zone on the elevated areas of Beit Hanoun, which overlooks the illegal Israeli settlement of Sderot, Israel’s Army Radio reported.

According to the broadcaster, senior military commanders in the southern region, who are currently leading combat operations in northern Gaza, argue that this buffer zone would permanently prevent Gaza residents from returning to parts of Beit Hanoun in the future.

“The plan focuses on the entire line of elevated areas in Beit Hanoun that provide direct oversight of nearby Israeli settlements, enabling potential control through fire and surveillance,” the radio said.

“This would ensure that no homes or structures in Beit Hanoun could overlook Israeli settlements, nearby lands, or the Sderot railway line in the future,” it added.

The political leadership has yet to approve the recommendation as an official policy.

Israel has continued a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza since Oct. 5, 2024, to allegedly prevent Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Since then, no sufficient humanitarian aid including food, medicine, and fuel has been allowed into the area, leaving the remaining population on the verge of imminent famine.

The Israeli onslaught in northern Gaza was the latest episode in a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 46,500 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara