Israel: Most People in Jabalia Have Fled

Facts

• After launching an offensive into the area last month, Israel's military said on Tuesday that around 55K Palestinian civilians have fled Jabalia in northern Gaza. Israel claimed that Hamas tried to prevent some Palestinians from fleeing the area without presenting evidence.^[1]
• Israeli outlet Channel 12 said that the military is preparing to capture and hold the area, adding that residents will not be allowed to return for the time being. Human rights groups have claimed that "the Generals' plan" — a proposal to starve and treat all remaining civilians as combatants — has been implemented.^[2][3]
• Israel has denied that it is carrying out the strategy, saying that dozens of aid trucks are entering northern Gaza each day and civilians are leaving safely.^[1]
• The US said on Monday that Israel has failed to significantly improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, as the Biden admin. gave Israel a 30-day deadline to increase aid shipments. The US has said that it will have to "follow the law" if Israel does not improve the situation.^[4]
• Israel said that the World Health Organization (WHO) had completed its second round in its campaign to administer polio vaccines to children in Gaza, with the effort mostly confined to the area surrounding Gaza City due to limitations of a humanitarian pause.^[5]
• As negotiations over a cease-fire and hostage release continue to stall, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel would pay $1M for each hostage released and allow their captors to leave Gaza. Hamas has not commented on the proposal.^[6]

Sources: ^[1]The Times of Israel, ^[2]Middle East Eye, ^[3]Associated Press (a), ^[4]Associated Press (b), ^[5]Reuters and ^[6]The Telegraph.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The New York Times. Though the situation in the region continues to escalate, the US has stood firm in its role as a mediator. Israel has every right to respond to the daily terror attacks it has seen since Oct. 7. However, it is in no one's interest for tensions to explode into a wider regional war. The US will continue to work toward regional stability.
• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by The Jerusalem Post. Hamas continues to use Gaza's civilian population as human shields as it increasingly converts schools and hospitals into command and control centers. Indeed, Hamas is solely to blame for the destruction of Gaza and its impact on the civilian population, as it started this terrible war with the massacres of Oct. 7. Israel will continue to pacify the group and confront its regional enemies.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by +972 Magazine. Israel's true goal in northern Gaza is to starve and exterminate the civilian population so that the region is never inhabited by Palestinians again, paving the way for Israeli settlers. Israeli politicians and military officials have been quite clear about the country's genocidal goals, yet the media continues to ignore their horrifying ambitions. This is a campaign of mass extermination that has received the full backing of the US.