The Israeli army plans to divide the heavily bombed and blockaded northern Gaza Strip into five areas, allowing only women and men over the age of 60 to return home after the war. Israel has communicated this plan to Egypt, but Cairo has rejected it.

Sources told The National that Egypt strongly opposes Israel’s post-war plans for Gaza, including the creation of a buffer zone in northern Gaza and the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to areas near the border. Cairo’s opposition was conveyed to representatives of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet security services during talks with Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo on Sunday, according to the sources.

“It was long and tense,” one source said of the meeting, which was attended by Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, who was appointed last week as Egypt’s new intelligence chief.

According to these sources, who shared details from intelligence reports, Israel plans to establish five “security zones” in the northern coastal strip, where infrastructure will be destroyed to the point that communities will be unable to survive.

The Israeli army will only allow displaced women and men over the age of 60 to return to their homes in northern Gaza. Local militias, known to be opposed to Hamas, would oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid. It was also suggested that no reconstruction efforts would be permitted in the area.

“There will be a direct Israeli military administration in northern Gaza, supported by local militias selected from tribes hostile to Hamas,” said another source. “Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is determined to reshape all aspects of life in Gaza through systematic evictions and actions that some describe as genocidal.”

There has been no official statement from either Egypt or Israel about Sunday’s meeting, the first known face-to-face encounter between Israeli and Egyptian intelligence officials in weeks. Several meetings have taken place over nearly a year of unsuccessful negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas since October 2023.

Israeli authorities claim the evacuation orders for northern Gaza residents are intended to separate Hamas fighters from civilians and deny allegations of a systematic plan to forcibly displace civilians from Jibaliya or other northern areas.

Israeli officials say their operations in northern Gaza have killed scores of Hamas militants and targeted Hamas infrastructure.

Hamas, on the other hand, accuses Israel of carrying out “genocide and ethnic cleansing” to drive the population out of northern Gaza.

The issue of Israel’s military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip along Egypt’s border with Gaza that includes the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, was also raised at Sunday’s meeting. The Egyptians reiterated their demand for Israeli troops to withdraw from the area.

Egypt argues that Israel’s military presence there violates the 1979 peace treaty and subsequent agreements between the two countries. Israel, however, insists that it must remain in the corridor to prevent weapons and equipment from being smuggled into Gaza through tunnels, a claim Egypt has repeatedly denied.

Reports of Israel’s intention to create a buffer zone in northern Gaza came as the Israeli army intensified its operations in the area last Monday. The Indonesian hospital was destroyed by fire, along with buildings where thousands of displaced people had taken refuge.

Israeli forces also rounded up men and ordered women to leave the Jibaliya camp, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, which seems to confirm the sources’ claims about Israel’s intentions in the region.

According to Axios, citing U.S. and Israeli officials, Israel has submitted a list of demands to the White House that it wants met before agreeing to a ceasefire in Lebanon.

As Israel considers an invasion of southern Lebanon, citing threats from Hezbollah, it is simultaneously resisting international pressure for a ceasefire. The recent assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by Israel, shortly after he had accepted a ceasefire, has raised suspicions that Israel may not be genuinely interested in a ceasefire. Meanwhile, the U.S. is reportedly seeking to leverage Israeli attacks to support the election of a pro-U.S. president in Lebanon and weaken Hezbollah’s influence.

Against this backdrop, Israel, which continues its military operations in Lebanon, has sent a list of conditions to the U.S., signaling that it is open to negotiating a ceasefire in response to growing international pressure.

According to Axios, Israeli officials stated that the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office sent the document to the White House ahead of a visit to Beirut by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who is expected to discuss a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

The document reportedly contains two key demands: first, that the Israeli Air Force be allowed to continue operating in Lebanese airspace; and second, that the Israeli military be permitted to engage in “active enforcement” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

These demands conflict with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which tasks the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with enforcing the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Moreover, these demands infringe upon Lebanon’s sovereign rights, making it highly unlikely that they will be accepted by either Lebanon or the international community.

Hochstein is expected to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut today to discuss Israel’s demands. Berri told Al-Arabiya yesterday that Hochstein’s visit represents “the last chance before the U.S. elections to find a solution” to the ongoing conflict in Lebanon.

Five soldiers from the reconnaissance unit of the Golani Brigade have been killed in southern Lebanon, where Israel is conducting a ground invasion. Hezbollah has announced a new phase of escalation in its conflict with Israel.

According to an Israeli army spokesperson, five soldiers were killed during clashes in southern Lebanon. An officer and two soldiers were wounded in the same engagement, while other soldiers sustained serious injuries in separate skirmishes across the region.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has declared a new stage in its war against Israel, announcing the use of precision-guided missiles in its attacks. In a written statement, Hezbollah said: “In accordance with the directives of the leadership, a new phase in the conflict with the enemy Israel will begin, which will increase tensions and have repercussions in the coming days.”

Hezbollah also claimed that hundreds of its fighters are fully prepared to counter any Israeli ground assault on villages in southern Lebanon. The group noted that its attacks on Israel have intensified recently, including an increase in rocket fire, and confirmed for the first time that precision-guided missiles have been deployed.

The statement further claimed that 55 Israeli soldiers have been killed and more than 500 injured since Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon began. It also reported the destruction of 20 Merkava tanks, 4 military bulldozers, and an armored personnel carrier, as well as the downing of 2 Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The Lebanese Ministry of Health has reported that 2,412 people, including 104 children and 194 women, have been killed, and 11,267 injured, since October 8.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut on September 27.

An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon due to Israeli bombardment. As migration from southern Lebanon to Beirut and the northern regions continues, the Lebanese government has announced that more than 461,000 displaced people have fled to Syria.