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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">16% of Gaza land to be taken by 'Israel' for buffer zone<br></h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Al Mayadeen English</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">March 19, 2024<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>Construction
of the zone has already begun, per the professor analyzing the
operation, which naturally will involve the demolishing of Palestinian
homes and agriculture to make space for the 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) wide
zone.</p><img src="cid:ii_ltyjzzxh0" alt="6aa489b6-01fd-42e9-829e-b473eae63a42.jpg" width="395" height="263"><br><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
An Israeli flare is seen over the Gaza Strip on March 18, 2024. (<em>AP</em>)
</li></div></ul>
<p>"Israel" plans to lay its hands on 16% of Gaza's territory to
establish a “buffer zone," citing an analysis by Adi Ben-Nun, a Hebrew
University geography professor.</p>
<p>Construction of the zone has already begun, per the professor, which
naturally will involve the demolishing of Palestinian homes and
agriculture to make space for the 1-kilometer (0.6 miles) wide zone.</p>
<p>Israeli officials previously refused to comment on how wide the
buffer would be, but the former head of Israeli military intelligence,
Amos Yadlin, said he expected "Israel" would enforce a "perimeter" of
500 meters to 1km inside Gaza.</p>
<p>Moreover, "Israel" had bombed factories, warehouses, and civilian
infrastructure within the potential buffer zone. Some of the buildings
had been <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--proceeds-with-buffer-zone-plan-despite-intl--prohib" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deliberately mined by Combat</a> Engineering units, in preparation to demolish the residential bloc. </p>
<p>The surface seems to be for a buffer zone, but the intent may be
deeper than that, as many ministers of the occupation have called for
building more settlements, according to <em>The</em> <em>Wall Street Journal</em>.</p>
<p>In addition, "Israel" is constructing a road that will cut the Strip
in two and while it claims it does not want to occupy Gaza, it claims it
wants an open-ended security control of the area which cannot exclude
the act of occupation. </p>
<p>According to Adi Ben-Nun, around <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--demolished-1-100-buildings-to-create-buffer-zone-in" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2,850 buildings border the zone</a>, of which 1,100 have been targeted and destroyed as of January 17. </p>
<p>Under the guise of "protecting civilians," the US claims to be
against Israeli advancement and invasion of Rafah and Gaza, yet it
continues to transfer weapons to "Israel". </p>
<p>The 38,819 martyrs in Palestine didn't perish out of thin air.
Without weapons from the West, these catastrophic numbers wouldn't have
been reached. "Israel" is fueled by greed, while the West supplies it.
"Israel" craves occupation, and the West enables it.</p>
<p>Last month, the UN rights director cautioned that the ongoing Israeli
destruction of all homes along the Gaza border to create a "buffer
zone" is a war crime.</p>
<p>Volker Turk in a statement addressed Israeli officials <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-plans-to-make-gaza--buffer-zone--war-crime--un" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reminding them of Article 53</a>
of the Fourth Geneva Convention which "prohibits destruction by the
occupying power of property belonging to private persons, except where
such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military
operations."</p>
<p>He observed that Israeli actions do not appear consistent with such
exceptions and the "extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure,"
is in direct breach of the convention which amounts to a war crime.</p>
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