Israel enacting plan to empty north Gaza of Palestinians in siege that could last months: Report

The Israeli military is currently enacting a plan that would effectively ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population in northern Gaza after a siege that could last months, according to an Israeli report based on conversations with military officials. 

The plan was conceived by retired Major-General Giora Eiland and aims to empty northern Gaza of its 400,000 residents to make way for a "closed military zone".

"The general's plan," which was launched in an Israeli TV campaign, calls for the ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza, warning that those that remain will face starvation.

"The right thing to do is to inform the approximately 300,000 residents who remained in the northern Gaza Strip… we are ordering you to leave," Eiland said last month.

"In a week, the entire territory of the northern Gaza Strip will become military territory."

According to a report published Friday in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli military is now implementing a "scaled-down" version of the plan in the Jabalia refugee camp, north of Gaza.  

The military launched an assault on Jabalia on Saturday. The densely-populated area has been encircled and besieged for a week, with no food or water coming in, where tens of thousands of people are trapped. 

According to the report, even though the "general's plan" aims to create conditions to force the population to flee south, most people have refused to leave their homes so far. 

The assault, including the siege, is unlike raids conducted by the army in the previous year and could last for several months, the report said.