GAZA,(Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Network of Civil Society Organizations has warned of Israel’s plan to occupy the Gaza Strip, stressing that the Israeli announcement of a gradual plan to take full control of the Strip, starting with Gaza City, “is not a passing military step, but rather the systematic execution of a forced displacement plan and the liquidation of Palestinian presence, amid international complicity in full view of the world.”
During a press conference on Sunday, the network’s Women’s Sector called for an “immediate and comprehensive halt” to the genocide against the Palestinian people and the provision of “urgent international protection” for all civilians, including women, girls, children, and the elderly.
The conference was held under the slogan: “No to genocide through killing, starvation, and displacement in Gaza,” rejecting Israel’s decision to occupy Gaza City, a move they warned would cause catastrophic consequences, including the displacement of all segments of the population, amid a suffocating humanitarian crisis.
Sahar Yaghi, Chair of the Palestinian Women’s Developmental Studies Association, stressed the urgent need to lift Israel’s blockade on Gaza, open border crossings immediately, and provide safe humanitarian corridors to deliver food, medicine, and healthcare, especially for pregnant and breastfeeding women and survivors of violence.
She emphasized that “the Israeli declaration of full control over the Strip, starting with Gaza City, is not a temporary military move, but the systematic implementation of a forced displacement plan and the eradication of Palestinian presence, amid international complicity in full view of the world.”
Yaghi noted that over 675 days, the Israeli occupation has turned Gaza into a mass grave, destroying 85% of its civilian infrastructure, killing 61,369 Palestinians, and injuring 152,850 others, more than 50,000 of whom now live with permanent disabilities.
She added that “women have paid the heaviest price in this war, with over 28,000 women and girls martyred, more than 15,000 widowed and left to face homelessness and loss after losing their breadwinners, and over 18,000 children killed, many alongside their families under the rubble, in blatant violation of all international laws and norms.”
Last Friday, the Israeli government approved a gradual plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, beginning with the seizure of Gaza City and the displacement of its roughly one million residents toward the south. The plan involves surrounding the city and carrying out incursions into densely populated residential areas.
According to UN data, 87% of the Strip’s territory is now either under Israeli occupation or subject to evacuation orders. The UN has warned that any new military expansion would have “catastrophic consequences.”
Since October 2023, the Israeli occupation army, backed by the United States, has waged a genocidal war against Gaza’s population, killing over 61,000 Palestinians, injuring more than 153,000, and displacing nearly the entire population, in destruction unprecedented since World War II.
