(The Australian, 22/2/2024)
This is part of the planned takeover of the whole of Palestine by Israel that has been on the cards for many years – Mar
The Israeli army is expanding a road across central Gaza to facilitate its military operations, part of its plans to maintain security control over the enclave for some time, according to defense officials.
The gravel-paved road is one of a number of Israeli efforts to reshape the topography of the Gaza Strip — and give its military freedom of movement and a tighter grasp on the territory that was the launchpad for the Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and sparked the current conflict.
The corridor south of Gaza City, stretching roughly eight kilometres from the Israeli border to the coast, divides Gaza in two, along an east-west strip of land occupied by Israeli troops since early in the four-month-old war.
This will allow Israel’s military to continue to move quickly across the enclave along a secure route, even after most troops pull out. The Israeli military already controls major north-south roads in Gaza.
The road forms part of an emerging picture of how the Israeli army is preparing for the next stage of war, when it plans to withdraw from populated areas and concentrate on targeted raids against Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
The building and expansion of the road comes as the Israeli military is also building a roughly 1-kilometre buffer zone just inside Gaza’s border with Israel, where Palestinians would be barred from entry.
U.S. officials have warned Israel repeatedly against altering Gaza’s borders or carving up its territory. They have publicly voiced opposition to the creation of a buffer zone.
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