Northern Gaza resists as Palestinian resilience derails Israeli strategy

The steadfastness of Palestinians in Jabalia and their refusal to comply with Israeli army illegal evacuation orders have thwarted the implementation of the "Generals' Plan" to evacuate the northern Gaza, Israeli dailyYedioth Ahronoth reported.

The Israeli army announced on Sunday the start of a military offensive in Jabalia, followed by a fierce assault on the eastern and western regions of northern Gaza — the most intense since May.

It warned residents in Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia to evacuate southward, while Gaza authorities cautioned residents against following the orders they deemed a "deception and a lie."

Secondary combat zone

The Israeli newspaper highlighted that "last week, the Gaza Strip was officially designated as a secondary combat zone by the Israeli army, coinciding with the commencement of the ground operation in southern Lebanon."

"The army left the regular division in charge of the southern command to raid Jabalia for an extended period of more than a few weeks, due to the unusual insistence of the residents on not evacuating southward," it said.

It pointed out that the army previously conducted two ground assaults against Jabalia last November and December, marking the current operation the third since the start of the Gaza onslaught on Oct. 7, 2023.

Yedioth Ahronoth said residents' resilience in Jabalia and their refusal to comply with the army’s requests "thwarts the practical trial of implementing what is known as the Generals' Plan" to evacuate the population from northern Gaza.

It compared the operation to a smaller, preliminary version of a proposal by retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, who suggested relocating nearly 300,000 remaining residents in northern Gaza, particularly from Gaza City, to the southern part of the territory via inspection at the Netzarim Corridor in the centre of Gaza.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 97,900 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.