Satellite photos show that the Israeli army is accelerating work to create a kilometer-wide “buffer zone” in the Gaza Strip along the border and a corridor cutting off the Gaza Strip. in two.

The Israeli army has given a boost to its post-war projects in the Gaza Strip, as proven by satellite images. These operations provide for the creation of a “buffer zone” approximately 1 km wide along the border, which will be completely closed to Palestinians. The IDF is also preparing the establishment of a “corridor” cutting the Gaza Strip in two. So many projects which have sparked considerable criticism abroad, particularly from the United States.

Bulldozers and other machines from military engineering units have already come into action. Hundreds of residential buildings and greenhouses were destroyed, some during fighting and others to make way in what must become a no-man's land. This project is supposed to strengthen border security by moving rocket and mortar shell sites away from Israeli territory, while making it more difficult for Hamas commando infiltrations like those perpetrated during the October 7 massacres in southern Israel.

In total, the operation will result in the seizure of 16% of the surface area of the Gaza Strip.

“Obstacle Zone”

To complete the system that will be put in place after the war, the IDF is preparing to dig a corridor cutting the Gaza Strip in the middle. The project should enable control of the passage of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the north of the enclave who had fled the fighting to take refuge in the south in tents and who would like to return home. The structure must also allow rapid access for military forces. Ditches began to be dug.

According to military commentators, the army does not intend to set up permanent posts there and could intervene by firing in the event of infiltration from positions located in Israel.

Satellite photos made public by the private company Planet Labs and published by Haaretz, an Israeli daily, illustrate the extent of the work in progress. The Israeli army, for its part, cultivates vagueness. “Our forces are in the process of organizing an obstacle zone as part of a strategic defense in accordance with government decisions,” the army spokesperson simply declared. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, was also not more precise last month in presenting his post-war plans.

He spoke of the creation of a “buffer zone in the sector bordering Israeli territory whose existence will be maintained as long as the security imperative requires it”. The head of government also warned that the Jewish state will reserve total military control in the Gaza Strip.

War crime

This scenario was denounced on the international scene. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, denounced the destruction of homes in the future buffer zone as well as the expulsion of residents from this sector. “I remind you that transfers of civilian populations can constitute a war crime,” he warned recently.

He is not alone in his criticism. The United States has made clear its opposition to any attempt by Israel to reoccupy part of the Gaza Strip that the Jewish state had completely evacuated in 2005. “We do not want a reduction in the territory of Gaza, in any form whatsoever,” said John Kirky, spokesperson for the American National Security Council, in January. This message was also relayed several times by Antony Blinken, the American Secretary of State during his multiple tours in the region.