Israel prepares to seize 25% of Gaza in “maximum pressure” campaign, critics warn of ethnic cleansing
By isabelle // 2025-04-01
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  • Israel plans to escalate its Gaza ground invasion, aiming to occupy 25% of the territory to pressure Hamas into a prisoner exchange.
  • Critics warn the move could forcibly displace Palestinians, aligning with Netanyahu’s "final stage" of military action, which has killed over 50,000 Gazans.
  • The IDF ordered evacuations in Rafah, displacing over a million people to an already overwhelmed coastal area amid starvation and disease.
  • Israel rejected a Hamas-accepted ceasefire, demanding hostage returns as bombardment continues, pushing Gaza’s death toll to 50,000 since October.
  • Netanyahu endorses Trump’s "voluntary migration" plan, which far-right officials celebrate, while critics call it ethnic cleansing and demographic engineering.
The Israeli military is preparing to escalate its ground invasion of Gaza, with plans to occupy 25% of the besieged enclave in the coming weeks as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at forcing Hamas into a prisoner exchange deal. However, critics and human rights observers warn the move is a thinly veiled pretext for further displacement of Palestinians, potentially advancing what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly described as the “final stage” of a devastating military campaign—one that has already killed over 50,000 Gazans, most of them women and children. The expansion, reported by Axios and confirmed by Israeli officials, would mark one of the largest territorial seizures since the war began in October 2023. Yet with Netanyahu invoking President Trump’s controversial “voluntary migration” plan—a policy Palestinians condemn as ethnic cleansing—the operation appears less about security and more about fulfilling long-standing far-right ambitions to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population. According to Barak Ravid, an Axios reporter and former Israeli intelligence officer, senior officials admit the reoccupation could extend beyond stated military objectives. “Some Israeli officials say reoccupation is a step towards implementing the government’s plan for ‘voluntary departure’ of Palestinians from Gaza,” Ravid wrote, citing anonymous sources. The plan is already in motion. On Monday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) issued evacuation orders for Rafah, a southern city where over a million displaced Palestinians had sought refuge. “Move immediately to the shelters in Al Mawasi,” Colonel Avichay Adraee commanded on social media, referencing a cramped coastal area already overwhelmed by starvation and disease. Meanwhile, Netanyahu framed the escalation as inevitable. “Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave,” he told his cabinet, before endorsing Trump’s proposal to forcibly relocate Palestinians. “We will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration.”

Ceasefire rejected amid mounting death toll

The military push comes despite Hamas accepting an Egyptian-brokered truce proposal on Sunday. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, stated the group sought only “implementation of what was already signed.” But Israel dismissed the offer, demanding the release of 11 living hostages and 16 bodies—a shift from prior negotiations. Since resuming hostilities on March 17, Israel’s bombardment has killed over 1,000 Palestinians, adding to a toll that Gaza’s Health Ministry places at 50,000 since October. The UN reports that 95% of Gazans are now displaced, with famine looming due to Israel’s blockade on aid.

A “final stage” of destruction

Netanyahu’s rhetoric has grown increasingly brazen. His invocation of Trump’s plan—which far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated as Palestinians “losing their land forever”—aligns with a broader strategy critics call demographic engineering. “This is the plan. We are not hiding this,” Netanyahu declared. Yet even within Israel’s security establishment, skepticism abounds. Retired General Nitzan Nuriel dismissed the “voluntary migration” scheme as “nonsense,” while others warn reoccupation could trap Israel in an indefinite humanitarian crisis and could leave Israel responsible for two million Palestinians. As Netanyahu pursues what he brands a “war of rebirth,” the stakes extend beyond Gaza. With troops deployed in Lebanon and Syria, and annexation threats looming in the West Bank, his government appears committed to a maximalist vision—one that subordinates Palestinian lives to ideological goals. For Gazans, the looming occupation signals not security, but more suffering. With no viable ceasefire and the U.S. backing Israel’s campaign unconditionally, the world watches as Netanyahu’s “final stage” unfolds: one that history may remember as a genocide masquerading as self-defense.   Sources for this article include: TheCradle.co Axios.com NYPost.com CNN.com
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