As Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza enters its second year, frustration is mounting over lack of progress. With more than 42,000 Palestinians killed in the past 12 months, including many civilians, and no clear end to the conflict, the Israeli military and government are facing increasing criticism. Hostages remain in Gaza, a second front has opened in Lebanon since September, and the Israeli army appears stretched thin. Amid this pressure, a new strategy emerged that could radically alter the course of the war— the “Generals’ Plan,” also known as the Eiland Plan.
Origins of Generals’ Plan
Generals’ Plan was published in late September 2024 by the Forum of Commanders and Soldiers in Reserves, an Israeli NGO comprising over 1,500 former army officers. The group is advocating for a fundamental change in Israel’s approach to war, calling for a move from the concept of deterrence to a more aggressive strategy of decisive action.
Plan’s central figure is Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli major general and former head of both the army’s operations and planning divisions and the National Security Council. Eiland, a veteran of the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, and Operation Entebbe in 1976, is seen as a strategic thinker with significant influence. Though considered politically center-left within Israel, Eiland has called for hardline measures in current conflict that have drawn attention, including actions that could constitute war crimes under international law.
In a series of statements dating back to October 2023, Eiland has argued that Israel’s pressure on Gaza has been insufficient, advocating for stronger actions to ensure a decisive victory over Hamas. He suggested that the destruction of Gaza, including the creation of a severe humanitarian crisis, was the only way to break Hamas’s resolve. By December 2023, he proposed that if Hamas refused to negotiate over Israeli hostages, humanitarian aid to Gaza should be cut off, to starve the population into turning against Hamas.
Core Elements of Plan
Generals’ Plan is a two-phase approach aimed at dismantling Hamas’s capabilities by targeting its support base in Gaza, specifically the population in the northern Gaza Strip. The strategy rests on the belief that by removing the civilian population from key areas, Hamas fighters will be isolated and easier to defeat. The plan includes the following key components:
- Ethnic Cleansing of Norrn Gaza: the first stage of the plan calls for “evacuation” of the civilian population from the Norrn Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli military, approximately 95% of the northern population had already been displaced by November 2023. Still, an estimated 400,000 Palestinians remain, mostly sheltering in an Israeli army that has ordered them to evacuate. The plan envisions pushing the remaining civilians southwards into heavily overcrowded zones, effectively depopulating northern Gaza.
- Siege and Starvation: After the population is removed, the second phase of the plan is to impose a “full and tight blockade” on northern Gaza. This would involve cutting off all movement and preventing entry of necessities such as food, water, and fuel. I aim to starve out any remaining Hamas fighters, forcing me to either surrender or die. Eiland has suggested that starving Gaza would eventually lead to an uprising against Hamas, as the local population would blame the group for its suffering.
- Final Military Operation: Once the population has been cleared and Hamas fighters isolated, the plan calls for a final military operation to “cleanse” Gaza City and surrounding areas of remaining combatants, ensuring that Hamas can no longer operate in the northern Gaza Strip.
Legal and Ethical Concerns
One of the most controversial aspects of the Generals’ Plan is its reliance on siege tactics, which many observers have argued could violate international law. Under international humanitarian law, besieging civilian populations and deliberately starving them as a form of warfare is widely considered illegal, even in the context of combat. However, the plan’s authors argue that the strategy is legal as long as civilians are allowed to evacuate the area beforehand.
Eiland and his supporters cite historical examples, such as the British blockade of Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, to justify their approach. y argue that wartime sieges have been used successfully to achieve military objectives and that international law permits blockades of enemy forces. Nonetheless, human rights organizations and legal experts have raised concerns that implementation of the Generals’ Plan could lead to large-scale humanitarian disasters, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians trapped in conflict zones.
Political Reactions in Israel
Generals’ Plan has sparked intense debate within Israel, with support growing in some sectors of government and military. Plan’s underlying premise—that the population of Gaza must be driven out and that Hamas can only be defeated by cutting off all aid—has resonated with right-wing elements of Israeli politics. Figures like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have long advocated for the expulsion of Gaza’s population as part of a broader strategy to ensure Israel’s security.
In October 2023, Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence even published a document recommending the “evacuation” of the Gaza population to Sinai, Egypt, suggesting that they should not be allowed to return to their homes near the Israeli border. By early 2024, leading Israeli politicians such as Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu and multiple Knesset members signed letters supporting the adoption of the Generals’ Plan.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also indicated that the plan’s objectives align with Israel’s broader strategic goals, though the army has yet to fully embrace its more extreme measures. Israeli media reports throughout September 2024 noted that support was growing within the army for adopting key elements of the plan, including taking control of humanitarian aid distribution and tightening the blockade of northern Gaza.
Future of Generals’ Plan
As of October 2024, the initial stages of the Generals’ Plan may already be underway. United Nations reported that no food aid had entered northern Gaza since early October, and the Israeli military has continued to issue evacuation orders for large swaths of Gaza City and its surrounding areas. The possibility of a full implementation of the plan raises the question of whether Israel is moving toward an even more aggressive phase in its war on Hamas.
Generals’ Plan represents a dramatic shift in Israel’s military strategy. It is an approach that prioritizes overwhelming force and civilian displacement in pursuit of a decisive victory. However, the plan’s potential human costs, both in terms of civilian suffering and its implications for regional stability, make it one of the most contentious strategies in recent Israeli military history. As the conflict continues, the world will be watching to see if Israel will adopt this controversial approach and what the consequences will be for Gaza’s people.
