This week, we published a new collection of testimonies from soldiers who fought in Gaza in 2023–2024. “The Perimeter”, now available here and on our site, chronicles the systematic annihilation and expropriation of entire villages and agricultural zones — anything that stood in the way of creating the new Gaza buffer zone, a project which the IDF “completed” last December. It’s already been covered in The Guardian, the Washington Post, and CNN, among many others (links below).
Within the first month of the war, the IDF began creating the new buffer zone, reaching between 800 meters and 1.5 kilometers into the Gaza Strip from the border. The logic of maintaining perpetual […] military control by creating such an expansive perimeter has led to the wholesale destruction of this vast Palestinian territory. Around 16% of the Gaza Strip, where close to a quarter of a million Palestinians once lived. Annihilation, expropriation, and expulsion are immoral and must never be normalized or legitimized.
The creation of the perimeter constitutes collective punishment of those who lived in this area, as well as an obstacle to any future reconstruction efforts for the Gaza Strip. Not only is this morally abhorrent, but it also perpetuates the same paradigm and policies that have led us to this point.
Within the Perimeter, the IDF created a vast expanse where rules of engagement were permissive and constantly changing; where civilian homes were methodically destroyed en masse, alongside infrastructure and agriculture critical to Gaza’s future self-sufficiency and rehabilitation.
Since the Perimeter’s “completion” in December 2024, the IDF has broken the ceasefire deal and returned to heavy bombing of dense civilian areas. According to Defense Minister Israel Katz, it plans “to seize large areas that will be added to Israel’s security zones.” Hundreds of thousands more civilians have already been displaced, including the entire population of Rafah. Today, Haaretz reported that Rafah and the neighborhoods that surround it, which make up around 20% of the Gaza Strip, will be swallowed up completely and added to this ever-expanding Perimeter.
Khuzaʻah, a town of around 12,000 people, before and after being razed and swallowed up by the new PerimeterThis new collection of soldiers’ testimonies allows us to examine some of the methods the IDF used while establishing the new Perimeter, to better understand its plans for the future.
Methodical mass-destruction
Perhaps the most recurring theme in these testimonies is the sheer scale of the destruction. Around 3,500 buildings were destroyed “to the foundation” by IDF bulldozers and explosives, as was an industrial zone built after the Oslo Accords to promote self-sufficiency and trade.
The area was divided into sectors and flattened one by one. Virtually every building was demolished, simply for standing where it stood - as seen in the following exchange between a reservist and one of our interviewers:
“Essentially, everything gets mowed down, everything.”
What is ‘everything’?
“Everything is everything. Everything that’s built.”
Orchards?
“Yes.”
Cowsheds, chicken coops?
“Yes, yes.”
Every building and every structure?
“Every building and every structure. Everything.”
What does the area look like after?
“Hiroshima. That’s what I would say, Hiroshima.”Warrant Officer | Reserves - Armored Corps | Northern Gaza Strip | November 2023
Destruction in Rafah, southern Gaza, 20.01.25. Photo: Yousef Zaanoun, ActivestillsRules of engagement
In various periods and areas throughout the Perimeter’s creation, large swathes of the land were turned into massive kill zones. The borders to these kill zones were invisible, shifted constantly, and weren’t communicated to Palestinians - similar to the infamous kill zone surrounding Netzarim Corridor. As one officer told us:
“…there is no system of accountability in general. Anyone who crosses a certain line, that we have defined, is considered a threat and is sentenced to death. That did exist. It was an IDF definition. There was a line.”
Captain | Reserves - Armored Corps | Rafah | October - November 2023
Razing agriculture
During the creation of the Perimeter, the IDF razed around 35% of all agriculture in the Gaza Strip. This will cripple Gaza’s future chances at self-sufficiency by increasing its reliance on food entering from IDF-controlled border crossings, and throw a wrench in the gears of any attempt at rebuilding Gaza to be self-sustaining.
“[The bulldozer took down] mainly fields, agriculture, olive trees, eggplant fields. A very large excavator just comes through and takes out all the soil, kind of rolls it up, flattens it. It was a shame, great agriculture, beautiful eggplants and beautiful cauliflowers.”
Sergeant First Class | Reserves 5th Brigade | Northern Gaza Strip | November-December 2023
Ethnic cleansing
Since the first month of the war, Israeli officials have consistently said that the new Perimeter is here to stay. This means that nearly a quarter of a million people, who once lived in what is now the Perimeter, will be barred from returning and rebuilding their homes. This is ethnic cleansing, plain and simple.
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(Taken from an email sent to me by Breaking the Silence. Emphasis original.)