Israel informed its Western allies that it seeks to create a buffer zone in the Gaza Strip (French)
The Associated Press said that its analysis of satellite images revealed new destruction operations carried out by Israeli forces at a depth of one kilometer on the edge of the Gaza Strip, as part of an attempt to create a “security buffer zone” despite international objections and warnings.
The agency stated - in a report published Thursday and based on expert assessments - that images from the company "Plant Labs BBC" showed widespread destruction of buildings and bulldozing of lands in an area of 6 square kilometers in the Khirbet Khuza'a area, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to the report, the establishment of the buffer zone will consume approximately 60 square kilometers of the total area of the Gaza Strip, which amounts to about 360 square kilometers.
The agency said that the Israeli army refused to answer its question about whether it was currently establishing a buffer zone on the Gaza border, but it acknowledged the demolition of buildings along the border.
On the other hand, an Israeli government official - who requested that his name not be published - said that there is a "temporary security buffer zone" under construction.
The United States - which provides Israel with massive military support and political cover for its war on Gaza - has repeatedly announced that it does not support the occupation of the Gaza Strip, the establishment of a buffer zone, or any proposal that would lead to reducing the area of the Gaza Strip after the war.
But Egyptian and Western diplomats told the Associated Press that Israel informed its Western allies and Arab countries last December that it intends to create a buffer zone.
The agency quoted American analysts as saying that the targeted area, one kilometer deep, had witnessed the demolition or destruction of at least 1,329 buildings since the beginning of the war.
The agency stressed that this destruction is only a small part of what was befallen the entire Gaza Strip as a result of the war, as one estimate indicates that half of the buildings in the Gaza Strip were completely or partially destroyed.
Since last October, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which as of Thursday left 27,19 martyrs and 66,139 injured - most of them children and women - according to the Palestinian authorities, and caused massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
Source: Associated Press + Al Jazeera