The Israeli military now controls over 50 percent of the Gaza Strip following an aggressive expansion of what it calls a “buffer zone,” a strip of land cleared of all Palestinian presence and infrastructure. The zone, previously occupying 16 percent of Gaza’s territory, has grown dramatically since Israel resumed its military offensive in March 2025, following a brief ceasefire. With this expansion, Israel has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, razed entire neighborhoods, and cut the territory in half, raising international concern over possible long-term occupation and accusations of ethnic cleansing.
The buffer zone now spans the entire southern city of Rafah and reaches as far as 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) into Gaza in some areas, according to a military map. It also includes the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land slicing Gaza in two, isolating the north—including Gaza City—from the south. Combined, the buffer zone and corridor encompass more than half of the narrow coastal enclave that is home to over two million Palestinians.
Reports from both Israeli veterans’ group Breaking the Silence and the Associated Press detail the methodical and deliberate destruction of Palestinian life within the zone. The Breaking the Silence report, based on testimonies from active-duty and former soldiers, states that the creation of the zone “in practice meant razing the area to the ground.”
“Residential buildings, greenhouses, sheds, factories; you name it—it needs to be flat. That’s the order,” said one soldier. Another, stationed in northern Gaza, explained the visual objective of the operation: “When the army is done with the area, it should look like the aftermath of the atomic bombing of ‘Hiroshima. That’s what I’m saying, Hiroshima.’”
Satellite images confirm vast swaths of destruction, showing once-populated neighborhoods reduced to rubble. Nearly a dozen new Israeli military outposts now appear inside the buffer zone. Soldiers told the AP that every structure that could possibly shelter militants was destroyed, including homes, factories, irrigation systems, and farmland.
One of those affected is 55-year-old Nidal Alzaanin, a farmer who returned briefly to his home in Beit Hanoun during the January ceasefire. His property, located on the edge of the buffer zone, had been reduced to ruins.
“It took 20 years to build a house and within five minutes they destroyed all my dreams and my children’s dreams,” Alzaanin told reporters. His greenhouse, once a source of livelihood, was reduced to twisted scraps of metal. A 150-year-old sycamore tree, planted by his great-grandfather, was felled.
The systematic nature of the destruction, soldiers said, was carried out under clear orders. “Sometimes there’s a specific ID from the scouts or radar or whatever, and then there could be a specific target to shoot. But sometimes it’s like, I don’t know, we fired. What do you shoot at? Find something relevant and shoot at it,” one soldier said.
Another soldier described the buffer zone as a “kill zone,” where Palestinians who entered were considered targets. “They destroyed everything they could, they shot everything that looks functioning … (the Palestinians) will have nothing to come back, they will not come back, never,” a soldier deployed with a tank squad said.
There were no visible boundaries for the buffer zone, and civilians were often unaware they had entered the area. According to the same soldier, armored bulldozers were used to flatten the land, and anyone who came within 500 meters of the tanks was shot—including women and children.
The soldier admitted acting out of a desire for revenge following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in Israel. “I came there because they kill us and now we’re going to kill them. And I found out that we’re not only killing them. We’re killing them, we’re killing their wives, their children, their cats, their dogs, and we destroyed their houses,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that even after Hamas is defeated, Israel will retain security control in Gaza. In comments last week, Netanyahu said that the war will not end until Hamas is eliminated and its leadership leaves Gaza. He also reiterated support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians, which Israel refers to as “voluntary emigration.”
The idea of displacing Gaza’s population aligns with Israeli cabinet discussions from last month, which reportedly approved a plan for the complete evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza. Trump’s previously floated redevelopment vision for Gaza included building a luxury coastal destination, should the enclave be emptied of its native population.
Rights groups have denounced the expansion of the buffer zone as a form of ethnic cleansing. “Through widespread, deliberate destruction, the military laid the groundwork for future Israeli control of the area,” Breaking the Silence wrote in its report. Human Rights Watch researcher Nadia Hardman told the AP that the actions inside Gaza’s buffer zones “amount to ‘ethnic cleansing,’ because it was clear people would never be allowed to return.”
The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians and maintains that all operations are conducted in compliance with international law. “The army said it does not seek to harm civilians in Gaza, and that it abides by international law,” AP reported. It claims the buffer zone is a temporary measure intended to increase pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages and prevent further attacks.
However, many analysts and human rights organizations warn that the scale and intensity of the destruction suggest a longer-term aim to permanently alter Gaza’s geography and demographics.
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