The IDF has been establishing a wide buffer zone inside Gaza by demolishing buildings along the border, ignoring US warnings against reducing Gaza’s territory to just such ends.
A person close to Israel’s security apparatus said the work is intended to “keep this area completely clean of any terrorists or infrastructure, rocket launchers, mortars, and to give us the freedom of operation in that space.”
To enforce the buffer zone, the IDF has demolished an estimated 1,100 buildings along the border inside Gaza, according to News12, which noted that the demolition plan calls for toppling 2,800 buildings altogether.
Former Shin Bet chief and current Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter explained, “On the Gaza Strip all along, we will have a margin. And they will not be able to get in. It will be a fire zone. And no matter who you are, you will never be able to come close to the Israeli border.”
While the U.S. will express criticism of this, Israel must do what it needs to do to keep its sovereign nation safe.