ISRAEL HAS TURNED 70% OF GAZA INTO NO-GO ZONES, IN MAPS

Israel has restricted Palestinians’ access to 70 percent of Gaza, either by declaring large areas as no-go zones or issuing forced displacement orders, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In southern Gaza, much of Rafah governorate has been declared a no-go zone, placed under forced displacement orders by the Israeli military since late March. In the north, nearly all of Gaza City is under similar orders, with only small pockets in the northwest still exempt. Entire areas east of the Shujayea neighbourhood and along the Israeli border have been declared a restricted zone.

The animated map below shows how Israel’s military has expanded its forced displacement orders since breaking the ceasefire on March 18.

Israel’s Gaza occupation plan

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Gaza’s more than two million people “will be moved” in a new ground offensive that will involve Israeli troops holding on to seized territory, establishing a “sustained presence” in Gaza.

This follows the unanimous approval by Netanyahu’s cabinet to call up 60,000 reservists and place the Israeli military in control of delivering food and other essential supplies to Gaza’s starving population.

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Israel prioritising territorial control

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said Palestinians view the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza and reoccupation of much of its territorial landscape as a form of collective punishment and an attempt to change the demographic and political map of Gaza

Many Palestinians understand that Israel is prioritising territorial control over any political solution, and many shared their fear and panic regarding the possibility of not being able to return to their homes.

They also believe that Israel is trying not just to dismantle the military capabilities of Hamas, as the Israeli military spokesperson and Netanyahu have stated, but they are also trying to empty Gaza of its residents and to suffocate civilians.

Israel will do this by using humanitarian language alongside military tactics, including an expanded ground offensive and tightening its grip on the flow of aid to Gaza.

But there was a general and clear sentiment of defiance among many Palestinians. Social media is filled with messages of resilience and people saying they will not leave Gaza, whatever the cost.

Gaza facing ‘extreme risk of famine’

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says Gaza is facing “extreme risk of famine” with no food remaining in markets and aid distribution centres.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has accused Israel of “using starvation as a method of warfare” in Gaza. Half of those being starved by Israel are children, the prominent rights group said.

“[On] the nutritional front, the population is facing once again an extreme risk of famine,” the PRCS said in its latest situation update.

“There is an inability to meet even the minimum daily needs of over a million displaced people,” it said.

The PRCS’s food stocks allocated for displaced people are now “completely depleted”, with “limited quantities of legumes” being “distributed to community kitchens to cover some of the basic needs of displaced individuals”.

Since Israel broke the nearly two-month-long ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, its military has killed at least 2,459 Palestinians in Gaza, bringing the total number of confirmed killed in the besieged Strip to 52,567.