A former Israeli general who had proposed a surrender-or-starve strategy for northern Gaza says “the war has ended very badly” for Israel.
Giora Eiland spoke to Israeli Army Radio on Monday as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to the heavily destroyed north in accordance with a ceasefire reached with Hamas.
Eiland said that by opening the Netzarim corridor, an Israeli military zone bisecting the territory, Israel had lost leverage over Hamas and would not be able to restore it, even if it resumes the war. “We are at the mercy of Hamas,” he said.
Eiland was the main author of the so-called Generals’ Plan, which called for giving civilians in the northern third of Gaza a week to evacuate. The whole area would then be declared a closed military zone, sealed off from humanitarian aid, and anyone remaining would be considered a combatant.
Last fall, the plan was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has not said whether it adopted parts of it. The Israeli military has denied carrying out the plan.
Around the time it was publicized, in October, Israel launched a major operation in northern Gaza and sealed it off, allowing in hardly any aid. Tens of thousands of people were forced out, and the operation caused heavy destruction.
Eiland said Israel had failed to achieve its stated goals, including destroying Hamas, removing it from power, restoring a sense of safety to Israeli border communities or safely returning dozens of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.
He said that Hamas, by contrast, “has largely achieved everything it wanted.”
