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Israel was trying to demolish part of a Palestinian neighborhood as it pursued a plan to create a buffer zone between Gaza and Israel when about twenty Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion on Monday, according to three Israeli officials and an Israeli officer involved in the destruction.
The explosion occurred Monday after Gaza militants shot at a tank guarding an Israeli unit that had planted explosives in Palestinian buildings on the border in central Gaza with the intention of destroying them, according to an Israeli army newsletter on Tuesday datum. During the firefight, explosives went off, killing many of the soldiers inside, the military said.
Israel wants to demolish many of the Palestinian buildings close to the border to create a “security zone,” said the three officials, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Two of the officials said Israel's goal was to create a buffer of about six-tenths of a mile along the entire length of Israel's roughly 36-mile border with Gaza. At its narrowest point the area is less than six kilometers wide.
Their aim is to make it harder for militants to repeat an attack like the one on October 7, which, according to Israeli estimates, killed and kidnapped around 1,400 people and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents of southern Israel. One of Israel's war aims is to create conditions that will convince Israeli evacuees that it is safe to return home. Some of the demolished areas are within a few hundred meters of the Israeli neighborhoods that were attacked.
When asked about the establishment of a buffer zone, the military said its forces “located and destroyed terrorist infrastructures embedded in buildings, among other things,” which they said was necessary to implement a defense plan for southern Israel .
The military's chief spokesman, Vice Admiral Daniel Hagari, said in a news briefing on Tuesday that the fallen soldiers were involved in an operation to “create the security conditions for the return of the residents of the south to their homes.” '
The idea of a buffer zone gained as much momentum in Israeli discourse as the Foreign Ministry spoke out against this in December, because it would effectively reduce the size of Gaza, a process that the US government opposes.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, echoed that objection Tuesday, when asked at a White House news briefing about Israel's moves to create a buffer zone. “We don't want to see Gaza's territory diminished in any way,” Mr. Kirby said. “We will not support that.”
However, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said during a visit to Nigeria that the United States is open to a temporary buffer zone, but only to allow Israelis who fled their homes along the Gaza border after October 7 to return to turn.
“If there are transitional arrangements needed to make that happen, then that's one thing that needs to happen,” Mr. Blinken said. “But when it comes to Gaza's permanent status in the future, we have been clear, we will remain clear about not invading its territory.”
For Palestinians, the practice is cruel and would prevent Gazans in an already overcrowded enclave from returning to their homes. Critics of Israel's policy say the practice is part of a broader disregard for civilian homes and property. According to United Nations estimates, the majority of Gaza's buildings have been damaged during the war and more than 25,000 Gazans have been killed, according to Gaza officials.
Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said the systematic demolition of Palestinian border homes could constitute a war crime because they do not pose a direct threat to Israel.
“There is simply no provision in the Geneva Conventions about what Israel does along the border, which is some kind of pre-emptive eviction of property,” Mr. Rajagopal said in a telephone interview.
“On a specific ownership basis, Israel can take action — but not on a widespread basis across the border,” Mr. Rajagopal said. “Israel, as an occupying power, has a duty not to engage in what is called wanton destruction of property.” The military did not respond to a request for comment on the claims.
Although Israel has never formally announced the demolition of Palestinian border homes, the concept of a buffer zone along the Gaza border has been widely discussed in the Israeli news media since early December, when the idea was reported by Reuters.
Israeli ministers have also suggested since the first weeks of the war that there are plans to create such a buffer zone. Eli Cohen, then the secretary of state, said that after the war “the territory of Gaza will also decrease.”
Days later, Avi Dichter, the Minister of Agriculture, spoke of creating “a margin” along the Gaza border. “No matter who you are, you will never be able to get close to the Israeli border,” Mr. Dichter said.
Gabby Sobelman, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Erica L. Green And Michael Crowley reporting contributed.