Gaza turning into smaller jail
The Israeli military’s recent wave of evacuation orders demonstrates key insights into its war strategy, according to Adel Abdel Ghafar, director of the foreign policy and security programme at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs:
- Israel has not achieved its stated aim of eradicating Hamas in Gaza.
- Israel is trying to collectively punish Palestinians in Gaza.
- Israeli PM Netanyahu has a political interest in dragging out the war.
As the conflict progresses, Ghafar also sees Israel increasingly carving up Gaza in West Bank-style, building new military corridors that make it more disconnected and easier to control.
“All of us are watching this and want the war to end,” Ghafar told Al Jazeera. “But what happens in the long term is the perpetuation of the occupation and division of Gaza into … smaller jails effectively.
“Instead of having a bigger jail, you end up with smaller pieces of this jail.”
Netzarim, Philadelphi corridors are ‘another Israeli land grab’
Adel Abdel Ghafar, the director of the foreign policy and security programme at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, spoke to Al Jazeera about the Israeli army’s latest evacuation orders.
He said it is another example of “the collective punishment inflicted on the Palestinian people” by the Israeli military.
The Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors established by the Israeli military, Ghafar noted, represent another “Israeli land grab” and are a “perpetuation” of what is often referred to as the world’s largest “open-air prison”.
The Netzarim Corridor is a 6.5km (4-mile) road located south of Gaza City that effectively cuts the Gaza Strip in two. The Philadelphi Corridor, also known as the Philadelphi Route, is the 14km (8.7-mile) long strip of land representing the entire border area between Gaza and Egypt.
