From razing rubble to blowing up homes: IDF soldiers share how they expanded Gaza buffer zone in new report

Yasmine Hassan · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 07, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

A caller study from Breaking the Silence (BtS), an Israel-based NGO, has compiled grounds from soldiers who item how they razed plots of land during the war in their ngo to expand the buffer portion betwixt Gaza and Israel deeper into the strip. 

BtS, which was founded by Israel Defence Forces veterans, has released a study titled The Perimeter: Soldiers' testimonies from the Gaza Buffer Zone 2023-2024, containing accusation from interviews with dozens of IDF soldiers who served successful Gaza and participated successful the enlargement of the buffer zone, which the study refers to arsenic the perimeter. CBC News was capable to talk to 1 of those soldiers who provided details of the IDF's activities successful the country that runs north to southbound on the border.

Since it was founded successful 2004, BtS has published reports based connected much than 1,400 accounts from IDF soldiers based connected their experiences portion serving in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem since September 2000, successful its effort to "expose the nationalist to the world of mundane beingness successful the Occupied Territories" and "bring an extremity to the occupation."

In a connection to CBC News, BtS said the instauration of the perimeter done "confiscation of land" volition origin important obstacles to reconstruction efforts successful the Gaza Strip and "undermines its semipermanent sustainability." The enactment says that statements by Israeli officials, including that the territory would "remain successful Israeli hands" and that Palestinians would not beryllium allowed to return, magnitude to what BtS calls "ethnic cleansing." 

BtS is besides calling connected the Israeli government to instrumentality to the negotiating array and question a diplomatic solution to instrumentality the hostages and bring bid to the region. 

'A aboriginal of nary security'

Israeli forces have maintained a perimeter running north to southbound on the borderline betwixt Gaza and Israel since astatine slightest the aboriginal 2000s. In 2015, the United Nations Humanitarian Agency OCHA noted that the buffer portion extended 300 metres into the strip. Palestinians mostly have not been allowed wrong that region of the obstruction separating the 2 regions.

Since Oct. 7, 2023 — when Hamas-led militants stormed crossed the Gaza-Israel border, killed implicit a 1000 radical and kidnapped 250, according to Israeli tallies — the perimeter has been expanded to astatine slightest one kilometre into Gaza, according to IDF soldiers who told BtS astir their engagement successful the ngo to widen it. Though the study does not sanction the soldiers, it does springiness their ranks and the wide areas and periods they served. 

One IDF worker featured successful the report, a warrant serviceman who served successful bluish Gaza between January and February 2024, told BtS that the buffer portion would scope arsenic acold as 1.5 kilometres into Gaza, civilians would beryllium banned and everything would beryllium razed. When asked what the country would look similar aft they were through, they replied: "Hiroshima. That's what I'm saying, Hiroshima."

"This is a argumentation by the existent Israeli government, which leads america to a aboriginal of nary security," Joel Carmel, the advocacy manager astatine BtS, told CBC News successful a video call.

Carmel says Israel's ongoing push to widen the perimeter into Gaza during the war means the expanded portion wherever Palestinians are not allowed could become a imperishable fixture successful post-war Gaza, and that Israel is choosing a aboriginal for Gaza wherever "no 1 tin ever travel back" to that area.

Recent media reports, immoderate citing Israeli humanitarian enactment Gisha, have said that erstwhile Israel's expansion of the buffer portion is complete, it volition encompass arsenic overmuch arsenic 17 per cent of the Gaza Strip's area. 

OCHA says 65 per cent of the enclave is present wrong "no-go" areas, nether progressive displacement orders oregon both. Israel has not afloat explained its semipermanent goals for the areas it is present seizing, though Gaza residents accidental they judge the purpose is to permanently depopulate swaths of land, including immoderate of Gaza's past farmland and h2o infrastructure.

Carmel points to a connection by Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen successful October 2023 wherever helium said that "Gaza's territory volition shrink" aft the warfare ends. 

CBC News reached retired to the IDF and Israeli authorities officials for remark but did not perceive backmost earlier publication.

In their testimonies to BtS, IDF soldiers who participated successful the expansion of the perimeter, detail the destruction left down and however the perimeter's presence impacts some Palestinian and Israeli societies.

IN PHOTOS | In the ruins of Gaza: 

Leaving Gaza arsenic a 'mound of rubble'

One worker who spoke to BtS and CBC News served arsenic a sergeant archetypal people successful bluish Gaza successful November 2023. They said that their unit was tasked with blowing up much than 100 buildings successful the perimeter during their circuit successful Gaza. Though CBC confirmed the identity of the sergeant, they spoke connected the information that their individuality beryllium kept confidential retired of fear for their information and livelihood.

According to the sergeant, IDF soldiers were told successful a briefing that the areas they were told to destroy were adjacent capable to Israeli settlements and cities that they were a information menace and had to beryllium destroyed. The sergeant told CBC that this was the archetypal clip the perimeter was mentioned during their mission. 

They began their circuit successful bluish Gaza, an area that was already mostly rubble, where they were tasked with razing abandoned homes and buildings. Soon, they said their mission expanded to blowing up houses in southern Gaza, wherever they noted there were still signs of life. It was astatine this point, the sergeant said, questions astir the intent of the ngo began to turn successful their mind.

"The houses determination were not astir arsenic destroyed arsenic successful the north," the sergeant told CBC News implicit Zoom. "You spot the signs of people's lives were there, and their stuff." 

The sergeant noted that the reservist training they received didn't screen however to stroke up houses. Instead, they said, they were taught however to stroke up passageway entrances and set up mines connected bridges and in fields.

"Houses … are not truly thing we trained for," the sergeant said. "Even the commanders were benignant of learning it arsenic we were going." 

The sergeant said that when they near Gaza successful December 2023, it was a "mound of rubble." 

WATCH | Professor tracks destruction successful Gaza: 

'Everything is destroyed'

Professor Adi Ben-Nun of the Geography Information Systems section astatine the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been tracking the demolition in Gaza and the enlargement of the perimeter since the opening of the war. 

He says that earlier Oct. 7, 2023, determination were astir 180,000 buildings successful Gaza, based connected United Nations estimations. He says 120,000 of those buildings were destroyed earlier the ceasefire was breached successful March. Data detailing the demolition since past is not yet available. 

He says the cultivation onshore wrong the perimeter contained about 3,000 buildings, and that it has all been "completely demolished."

"You indispensable recognize that it's not lone the building, it's the roads, the electricity, the h2o structure, the sewage …everything is destroyed," helium told CBC News during a video call, wherever helium demonstrated the outer imagery he used to way the destruction.

Using his computer, Ben-Nun toggled between 2 outer images he created utilizing Google maps — one showing the authorities of the perimeter earlier Oct. 7, and the different after. The representation from earlier shows green patches of onshore and buildings. On the map from after, the greyish-beige colour of warfare emerges; tank tracks and destroyed buildings are each that tin beryllium seen.

He says that based connected this level of destruction, it would instrumentality generations for Gazans to rebuild what has been lost. 

"Even if radical are allowed to spell backmost home," Ben-Nun said, "there is nary home."