As part of the impending widening of the invasion of Gaza, the IDF plans to completely clear the northern part of the enclave, sending its citizens to southern Gaza, where a new humanitarian aid pilot program will begin, a senior security source said on Monday.
The announcement means the IDF will finally be effectively implementing the “General’s Plan,” which was widely discussed for much of 2024 but never implemented under a mix of pressure from the Biden administration and objections within the IDF itself.
According to the plan – originated by former National Security Council chief Giora Eiland and adopted by a group of senior reservist officers who were upset that the war was not leading to a quick enough defeat of Hamas – if all civilians were cleared from northern Gaza, then the IDF could let loose completely against any remaining Hamas terrorists in the area.
Israel has faced less American pressure regarding its war tactics since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
The senior security source added that most of Gaza, other than certain set-aside zones, would be cleared and that northern Gaza, especially, would be mostly flattened as the IDF did in the Rafah area by the Morag Corridor.
This would make it much harder for Hamas to continue to hide in northern Gaza.
It would also make it easier, said the source, to separate groups of Gazans to receive food without Hamas interference.
Further, the sources said that in the new phase of the invasion, Israel will significantly increase how much of Gaza it will hold onto, including keeping forces stationed in areas that have been taken over, far beyond the already 40% of Gaza taken over.
In the event of a new ceasefire deal with Hamas, the source said Israel would keep – at a minimum – a security zone around Gaza to secure the Israeli border perimeter.
Israel plans to begin a humanitarian aid pilot program
All of this comes a day after The Jerusalem Post confirmed that the two companies expected to handle Gaza food aid distribution once Israel reopens the spigot to facilitate the aid are American companies: Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions.
These are the same companies who, along with certain Egyptian officials, supervised the checking of vehicles seeking to pass from southern to northern Gaza in January of this year after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect.
The companies’ personnel often have special forces or CIA backgrounds to be qualified for handling complex foreign missions.
Although there is still no set date, food aid is expected to be restarted in the coming weeks.
The Washington Post has reported that these companies will run five food distribution hubs in southern Gaza as part of the pilot program for returning at least 60 trucks of food per day to the enclave.