The plan, revealed through a leaked map shared with diplomats and humanitarian agencies, outlines the forced relocation of Palestinians into three tightly controlled areas. These civilian sections would be cut off from each other by four military-controlled zones stretching across the devastated territory.
The map, viewed by The Sunday Times, indicates that movement between the civilian areas would require special permission, with screening measures including photo IDs and barcodes for goods. This would severely limit Palestinians’ freedom of movement and access to their homes and land.
According to foreign aid contractors briefed on the plan, the arrangement is tied to Israel’s broader military strategy titled “Stage Three: The Complete Takeover of Gaza.” The initiative follows the launch of Israel’s latest military campaign, codenamed “Gideon’s Chariots,” aimed at eliminating Hamas and securing the release of Israeli hostages taken during the group’s October 7 attack.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not officially confirmed the leaked details. However, the military has announced new offensives and ordered mass evacuations across Gaza. Israeli airstrikes over the past several days have reportedly killed more than 250 people, according to health authorities in Gaza.
The leaked map also indicates that Israel plans to expand the military corridor currently cutting across central Gaza—known as the Netzarim corridor—and establish new buffer zones along the northern and southern edges of the Strip. Bulldozers are reportedly flattening areas in preparation for long-term military infrastructure, according to The Sunday Times.
Twelve proposed sites within the designated civilian zones are marked for humanitarian aid distribution, part of a plan where private companies—overseen by Israeli forces—would manage aid access, mirroring privatised security checkpoints in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
This proposal has sparked international criticism. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the situation in Gaza was “beyond description, beyond atrocious and beyond inhumane,” calling for an immediate permanent ceasefire. “A policy of siege and starvation makes a mockery of international law,” Guterres said during a summit in Baghdad on Saturday.
Ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Doha between Hamas and Israel are continuing without pre-conditions, according to Hamas official Taher al-Nono. Meanwhile, Arab leaders have urged the international community to intervene, ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, and end the escalating bloodshed.
Since October 7, when Hamas militants killed approximately 1,200 people and abducted 251 in an unprecedented attack on Israel, the Israeli campaign in Gaza has resulted in more than 52,000 Palestinian deaths, the majority of whom are civilians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The plan, if implemented, could mark the most radical reshaping of Gaza’s geography and society since Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the enclave—potentially entrenching long-term military control and deepening the humanitarian crisis.
