Left-wing Israeli rights group accuses IDF of ‘ethnically cleaning’ northern Gaza

Peace Now, a left-wing Israeli rights group, accuses the IDF of “ethnically cleaning” northern Gaza of Palestinians.

“Under the code name ‘The General’s Plan,’ horrific war crimes are currently being committed in the north of the Gaza Strip,” Peace Now says in a tweet, referring to a plan that envisioned laying siege to northern Gaza in order to coax remaining Hamas operatives to surrender.

The IDF has denied carrying out the General’s Plan, saying its operations in northern Gaza have been limited to specific areas where Hamas has sought to regroup and that it is allowing humanitarian aid into other parts of northern Gaza.

During a meeting last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly clarify that Israel is not implementing the General’s Plan, but the Israeli premier declined to do so, amid pressure from far-right coalition partners.

Peace Now claims Israel is engaged in a mass-deportation and starvation campaign against the several hundred thousand Palestinians still in northern Gaza in order to
establish settlements there.

Netanyahu has insisted that Israel is not seeking to reestablish settlements in northern Gaza, but over two dozen members of his coalition have attended conferences in support of the effort.