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Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) has warned that the recent announcement by Israeli occupation authorities of their intent to intensify military operations to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip signals a dangerous shift into a new and even more devastating phase of the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, now in its twenty-second month.
According to WJWC, the plan—formally approved by the Israeli “Cabinet” under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court—entails the forced displacement of nearly one million residents of Gaza City to the south, the encirclement of the city, and subsequent incursions into residential neighborhoods.
The organization stressed that this strategy is not a new development, but rather a continuation of one of the largest ethnic cleansing campaigns in modern history—systematically destroying what remains of Gaza’s means of survival, displacing hundreds of thousands, and depriving civilians of food and medicine as part of a deliberate policy of mass starvation.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported five additional deaths from starvation in recent days, bringing the total number of fatalities from Israel’s starvation policy to 217, including 100 children. Since October 7, 2023, at least 61,430 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, according to official Ministry figures. This toll includes 1,778 people who died while seeking aid. Many more victims remain trapped under rubble or in streets inaccessible to rescue teams.
A Strategy to Redraw Gaza’s Demographic and Geographic Reality
WJWC noted that Netanyahu’s latest plan follows a series of systematic measures designed to permanently alter Gaza’s demographic and geographic makeup—steps the organization previously warned about in a June 2025 report.
Before the war began in October 2023, more than 2.3 million Palestinians were already confined to the Gaza Strip’s 365 km² under a strict blockade. Since then, Israeli forces have progressively reduced the territory’s habitable space, forcibly pushing the population into ever-smaller, overcrowded areas.
Satellite imagery and footage released by the Israeli military indicate that approximately 85% of Gaza’s land is now under direct occupation or subject to displacement orders. More than two million people are crammed into the remaining 15% of the territory under conditions WJWC describes as “unlivable”—densities exceeding those of the world’s largest cities, but in a besieged, bombed, and isolated enclave with no functioning airport or seaport. Over 100,000 tons of explosives have reduced much of Gaza to ruins, leaving more than 50 million tons of rubble and destroying 92% of homes.
The organization’s report, The Land and Everything on It, concludes that Israeli military policy seeks to fragment Gaza’s territory and systematically persecute its population—creating the conditions for genocide while entrenching a permanent military presence.
Geographic Squares, Combat Zones, and Buffer Strips
WJWC highlighted several tactics used to enforce the new geographic reality:
- Geographic Squares: Since December 2023, the Israeli army has divided Gaza into over 2,300 small zones, forcing residents into designated “humanitarian areas.” These zones lack basic services, remain subject to frequent bombardment, and are steadily shrinking in size. Many displaced families have been buried under the sand in their tents by high-yield Israeli bombs.
- Combat Zones: Certain areas are labeled as “combat zones” to justify the forced expulsion of residents under the guise of military necessity, followed by the destruction of remaining homes, infrastructure, and public services.
- Buffer Zones: Entire neighborhoods have been cleared to create so-called “security areas”—in reality, closed enclaves or military settlements—deepening the apartheid system and eroding Gaza’s social fabric.
Social Fragmentation and Legal Violations
The organization warned that Gaza’s deliberate fragmentation is tearing apart community ties, restricting freedom of movement, and threatening the very survival of Palestinian society—even at the level of individual families.
These measures, WJWC stressed, constitute:
- Illegal annexation of occupied territory, in violation of Article 2 of the United Nations Charter.
- Demographic and geographic engineering amounting to the crime of apartheid under the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.
- Violations of Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which guarantees freedom of movement for protected persons.
- Breaches of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits individual or mass forcible transfers.
- Crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, given the context of armed conflict and systematic forced displacement.
Urgent Demands
WJWC called for:
- An immediate and comprehensive halt to all Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and an end to genocidal policies against civilians.
- Explicit international condemnation—from the United Nations and its member states—of Israel’s policies of forced displacement and demographic manipulation.
- An end to the blockade and the opening of permanent, secure humanitarian corridors for the unrestricted flow of food, medicine, and essential aid.
- Activation of International Criminal Court jurisdiction to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The organization concluded that the international community’s ongoing silence amounts to tacit complicity in these crimes, undermines the foundations of international justice, and poses a grave threat to global peace and security.
