Once the war is over, what will happen to the Gaza Strip? For several months, the Israeli authorities have been floating the idea of a buffer zone, located on the border on the Gaza side. The objective being, according to an Israeli official interviewed by the Times of Israel at the beginning of December, “that Hamas can no longer enrich its military capabilities near the border and surprise again” the Jewish state.
In recent weeks, the idea seems to be coming to fruition. This is evidenced by the destruction of numerous buildings over a strip of one kilometer wide, from one end of the Gaza Strip to the other, observed by numerous experts.
The Israeli army has therefore undertaken to make this area uninhabitable. According to a study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, relayed by The Wall Street Journal1,072 structures – most of them residences – out of 2,824 have been demolished on this strip of land.
The Israeli army has already launched work to establish a buffer zone in Palestinian territory, along the border of the Gaza Strip.
© / Sabrina BLANCHARD / AFP
It was only in January that the head of the Israeli army, Herzi Halevi, was forced to reveal the existence of this “operation in the buffer zone between the Israeli communities and Gaza.” For good reason, 21 reservists were killed there while they placed explosives on buildings – the worst daily toll for Israel since the start of the war.
“A total no man’s land”
“Everything has been smoothed out,” testifies a soldier who worked with his unit in the north of the Gaza Strip, interviewed by The Wall Street Journal. These were mainly agricultural activities. Now it’s a military zone, a total no man’s land.”
But the project arouses the ire of many countries – including among the allies of the Jewish state. Besides France, which has, according to the Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretzmade it known that it was opposed to this project, the United States repeatedly insisted on its deep disagreement.
As early as November, Joe Biden reaffirmed in a Tribune that there should be no “reoccupation, siege or blockade, nor reduction of the territory” of the Gaza Strip. According to a source from Washington PostIsrael informed the United States that this zone would only constitute a “temporary device”.
A promise that raises questions, as the Jewish state justifies this buffer zone by the desire to eliminate Hamas firing positions near the border. Jonathan Conricus, former spokesperson for the Israeli army, also indicated to Washington Post that he expected “it to remain in place as long as armed struggle organizations are present in Gaza.”
As for IDF officials, they have not given any timetable regarding the lifespan of this buffer zone. “This operation is questionable from the point of view of international law,” underlines journalist Anshel Pfeffer, in Ha’Aretz. Furthermore, continues the left-wing daily, “the military effectiveness of a buffer zone is limited”, particularly against medium or long range projectiles from Hamas.
Ahead of the Hamas offensive on October 7, such a device, on a smaller scale, had already been put in place along the barrier isolating the Gaza Strip.