IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar on Tuesday approved the final tactical plans for the widening of the Gaza invasion, which was more generally authorized by the security cabinet on Monday.
At this stage, this means that the IDF Southern Commanders, generals, and brigade commanders within the IDF and the Shin Bet already have practical “marching” orders for where to maneuver and with which forces.
The only thing holding them back now is some period of days for the full necessary IDF reservists to arrive and be ready for action as well as giving Hamas a last opportunity to cut a new hostage deal until after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region, due to conclude around May 15-16.
This comes a day after a senior security source said on Monday that as part of the impending widening of the invasion of Gaza, the IDF plans to completely clear northern Gaza of civilians, sending them to southern Gaza, where the new humanitarian aid pilot program will start.
The announcement finally means effectively the implementation of the “General’s Plan,” which was widely discussed for much of 2024, but never implemented under a mix of pressure from the Biden administration and objections within the IDF itself.
According to the plan – originated by former national security council chief Giora Eiland and then also adopted by a group of senior reservists officers who were upset that the war was not leading to a quick enough defeat of Hamas – if all civilians were cleared from northern Gaza, then the IDF could let loose completely against any remaining Hamas terrorists in the area.
Under the Trump administration, Israel has had a freer hand regarding how it handles war tactics and humanitarian aid.
The senior security source added that most of Gaza, other than certain set zones, would be cleared, and that northern Gaza, especially, would be mostly flattened as the IDF did in the Rafah area at the Morag Junction.
This would make it much harder for Hamas to continue to hide in northern Gaza.
It would also make it easier, said the source, to separate groups of Gazans to receive food without Hamas interference.
Further, the sources said that in the new phase of the invasion, Israel will significantly increase how much of Gaza it will hold onto, including keeping forces stationed in areas that have been taken over, far beyond the already 40% of Gaza that has been taken over.
In the event of a new ceasefire deal with Hamas, the source said that Israel would keep at a minimum a security zone strip around Gaza to secure the Israeli border perimeter.
Aid distribution in Gaza
All of this comes a day after The Jerusalem Post confirmed that the two companies expected to handle Gaza food aid distribution once Israel reopens the spigot to facilitate the aid are American companies: Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions.
These are the same companies who, along with certain Egyptian officials, supervised the checking of vehicles seeking to pass through from southern to northern Gaza in January of this year after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas at the time went into effect.
The companies’ personnel often have special forces or CIA backgrounds to be qualified for handling complex foreign missions.
Although there is still no set date, the food aid is expected to be restarted in the coming weeks.
The Washington Post has reported that these companies will run five food distribution hubs in southern Gaza as part of the pilot program for returning at least 60 trucks of food per day to the Strip.
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