"Israel's Buffer Zone Plan in Gaza Sparks International Controversy"

Hamas official Osama Hamdan has condemned Israel's plan to create a 1km-wide 'security belt' around Gaza as a "crime" and "blatant aggression" against the Palestinian people, while international experts and the US have also criticized the move. Israel's military aims to establish the buffer zone by demolishing Palestinian homes and confiscating agricultural land, a move that has been deemed unjustified and potentially illegal under international law. The US opposes any attempt to shrink Gaza's territory or occupy it militarily, and the proposed post-war plan includes the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution, a possibility that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.