Also known as the Eiland Plan, the strategy was published in a military forum critical of the army’s efforts against Palestine. Why is it being discussed now?
Israel’s war on Gaza has now killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in 12 months, with no end in sight.
In Israel, there has been discontent at the lack of progress, with hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave and a second front opening up for the over-stretched Israeli army with its invasion of Lebanon in September.
Many in the Israeli military and elsewhere are now looking to the “Generals’ Plan“, also known as the Eiland Plan, to secure the defeat of Hamas. At its simplest, this suggestion by a group of senior reservists, involves ethnically cleansing the northern Gaza Strip of people; and then besieging the region, including stopping the entry of humanitarian supplies, to starve out anyone left, including Palestinian fighters.
Who wrote the Generals’ Plan?
The plan was published in late September 2024 by the Forum of Commanders and Soldiers in the Reserves, an Israeli NGO which defines itself as a professional body with more than 1,500 army officers.
The forum says it was established with four clear goals:
– Changing the doctrine of war
– Moving from the concept of deterrence to the concept of decisiveness
– The introduction of more offensive officers to the General Staff, which runs the army
– A clear victory against the enemy in all sectors
The group has criticised the strategy of the Israeli army in Gaza since October 2023 and its failure to achieve its war aims.
Who is Giora Eiland?
The central figure behind the plan is Giora Eiland, a retired major general reserve, who was head of the army’s operations and planning divisions, and later headed the National Security Council.
Eiland, who was involved in the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and Operation Entebbe in 1976, is considered centre-left in Israel. In 2023, for example, he supported reservists who refused to report for duty during Israel’s judicial reform crisis.
During the current war, he has made headlines several times for calling for the army to take action which may constitute a war crime.
In an interview on 29 October 2023, only weeks into the war, Eiland said that Israel needed to exert much stronger pressure. “The fact that we are breaking down in the face of humanitarian aid to Gaza is a serious mistake… Gaza must be completely destroyed: terrible chaos, severe humanitarian crisis, cries to heaven…”
And in December he suggested that if Hamas was not willing to discuss Israeli hostages then humanitarian aid should be cut in the hope of ultimately deposing the Hamas leadership.
“All of Gaza will starve,” Eiland reasoned, “and when Gaza starves, then hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will be angry and annoyed. And hungry people, they are the ones who will bring about a coup against [Yahya] Sinwar, and that is the only thing that bothers........