Israeli army creating buffer zone in Gaza: Report

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army continues works to create a buffer zone in the northern Gaza Strip, according to local media on Thursday.

The one-kilometer buffer zone extends from the city of Beit Lahia to the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, Haaretz reported.

The planned buffer zone grabs around 16% of Gaza’s total territory, the media outlet said.

Tel Aviv is also working to establish a corridor that separates the northern Gaza Strip from the territory’s central and southern parts, Haaretz said.

There was no confirmation yet from the Israeli army.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Palestinian territories since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 32,500 Palestinians have since been killed and some 75,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in its 174th day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara