Defense Minister admits "making Gaza smaller" as 400,000 Palestinians are forced into shrinking area with no medicine, food running out
Israel's Defense Minister has openly declared his country's strategy to shrink Gaza's livable territory, forcing hundreds of thousands into an increasingly desperate situation.
Mass Evacuation Orders Intensify
Over the past three weeks, Israeli forces have issued 20 separate evacuation orders across Gaza.
The orders have forced approximately 400,000 Palestinians to abandon their homes and relocate to increasingly overcrowded areas.
Those fleeing describe chaotic scenes of desperation as families carry whatever possessions they can manage while searching for any available space in the shrinking "safe zones."
One displaced man, Raed Radwan, told CNN the area is "completely filled with tents and displaced families."
"I see tents and people lining both sides of the road in heartbreaking conditions. Bulldozers are clearing the rubble of bombed homes to make space for more tents."
Living Conditions Deteriorate
As more Palestinians are crammed into smaller areas, sanitation has collapsed completely.
Hatem Abdulsalam described the horrific conditions: "I can't describe what we're suffering due to garbage, flies, mosquitoes and strange insects, they are everywhere due to the waste piling up in the streets."
The United Nations reports that more than two-thirds of Gaza is now either under active evacuation orders or designated as "no-go" zones.
These "no-go" zones require humanitarian teams to coordinate their movements with Israeli authorities, severely restricting aid delivery.
No humanitarian aid has entered Gaza for six weeks.
Buffer Zone Strategy
Israel has been systematically creating what it calls "security zones" along the Gaza border.
The IDF announced Friday that with the occupation of the Morag Corridor, "the encirclement of Rafah has been completed."
This corridor refers to a former Jewish settlement area between Khan Younis and Rafah.
A source familiar with the situation told CNN that Israel plans to hold a "significant portion" of Gaza for an "indefinite" period.
The Minister's Admission
What's most shocking is the candid admission from Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz about the true nature of the military strategy.
"Many areas are being captured and added to the security zones of the State of Israel, making Gaza smaller and more isolated."
Katz made this statement while visiting Gaza last week, openly acknowledging the territorial strategy that has been suspected by observers.
He specifically mentioned "cutting Gaza into parts, even in places like the Morag route, where we have not operated until now."
The Defense Minister even suggested the strategy may have another purpose - to make conditions so unbearable that Palestinians leave Gaza entirely.
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
The human toll of this strategy has been devastating.
Gaza's health ministry reports that 37% of essential medicines are completely out of stock.
More than 50% of cancer drugs are unavailable.
The UN reports that "bakeries have shut down, life-saving medicines have run out, and water production has been drastically reduced."
For civilians like 71-year-old Abu Mohammad, who suffers from glaucoma and diabetes, the situation has become unbearable.
"Maybe this is the twentieth time we have been displaced. Life has no meaning or future, even the past has been taken from us."
Thirty-year-old Faisal Jamal Faisal, surrounded by eight family members including five children, expressed similar despair: "We don't know where we are going, wherever our feet take us. We have left everything behind us."
Gesturing toward his children, he asked a question that captures the human tragedy: "What have they seen from life, no education, no playing, no sense of childhood?"
As Israel continues its military operations with the stated goal of pressuring Hamas and securing the release of hostages, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians remain caught in an ever-shrinking space with diminishing hope for relief.
