The Israeli military is demolishing buildings and structures on the border with the Gaza Strip to create a buffer zone, the newspaper reported on February 1 The New York Times.
The first explosions of buildings began in November 2023; in total, as of early February, at least 33 controlled explosions had taken place. Hotel buildings, residential buildings, mosques, schools and administrative buildings are being demolished, the publication says.
An Israeli army spokesman said in a statement that soldiers were “locating and destroying terrorist infrastructures built, among other things, inside buildings” in civilian areas. To carry out such demolitions, soldiers enter targeted structures to lay mines and then leave to remotely detonate the buildings.
Twenty-one Israeli soldiers were killed last week as the military prepared to blow up buildings, the newspaper said. Israeli officials said the Palestinians fired a rocket-propelled grenade towards them, setting off the explosives.
In December, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said creating a buffer zone along Gaza's roughly 36-mile border with Israel would violate Washington's long-standing position against reducing Gaza's territory.
Experts say the demolitions would prevent some Palestinians from returning to their homes and could violate rules of war prohibiting the deliberate destruction of civilian property.
Earlier, on January 31, it was reported that American negotiators to resolve the conflict in the Gaza Strip are insisting on a six-week ceasefire, after which it will be difficult for Israel to resume fighting with its previous strength, while during the truce all prisoners will be released in three stages.
Arab officials told the WSJ that several obstacles make the deal “unlikely,” but they suggested that if those obstacles are overcome, the agreement could be completed within 7 to 10 days.
Earlier in the day, Al Hadath TV channel, citing sources, reported that the Palestinian radical movement Hamas agreed to the gradual release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as part of a new deal to exchange hostages held by radicals in the Gaza Strip.
On January 30, the head of the Hamas Politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, announced that he had received a proposal for a truce in the Gaza Strip. The movement will study it and then give an answer. Haniyeh noted that the priority of the movement is to end Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, as well as the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the enclave.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, when Hamas subjected Israeli territory to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and also invaded the border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. That same day, Israel began retaliating against targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are seeking to return the borders between the two countries to the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestine wants to create its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses these conditions.
#NYT #reported #demolition #buildings #Gaza #border #Israeli #military
