Tel Aviv, MINA – Israeli Channel 12 reported on Monday that Israel’s Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, strongly opposes a controversial plan to evacuate Gaza residents to a so-called “humanitarian city” in Rafah, arguing that it “does not correspond with the objectives of the war.” Middle East Monitor reported.
The plan, backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several senior ministers, proposes gathering hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza under Israeli control. It aims to centralize Gaza’s civilian population to keep them away from combat zones and potentially facilitate a prisoner swap deal with Hamas. However, it has sparked fierce resistance within Israel’s military leadership.
In a recent security discussion with political officials, Zamir reportedly described the plan as “unworkable” and said it “has more holes in it than cheese.” According to political sources, he emphasized that the proposal carries “countless problems” and questioned whether it truly supports Israel’s strategic objectives in Gaza.
While proponents argue that the plan could weaken Hamas’s public support and improve control over civilian movements, senior military officials, including Zamir, believe it could harm Israel’s military efforts and complicate future negotiations.
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The controversial plan has also drawn widespread criticism internationally, with the UN and human rights organizations condemning it as amounting to forced transfer and collective punishment of civilians. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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