Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to control the city of Gaza to escalate the controversial Gaza war.
Thousands of Palestinians live in cities in the northern Gaza Strip. Before the war, it was the most populous city in the enclave.
The plan faces fierce opposition from within Israel, including military officials and hostage families, as well as the international community.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News earlier that Israel plans to occupy the entire Gaza Strip and eventually “deal with it to Arab forces.” Still very unclear, but this is what we know about the new plan.
What are the details of the plan?
The plan – or “Five Principles to End the War” includes:
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Return of all hostages
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Demilitarization of Gaza Strip
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Israeli security controls on the Gaza Strip
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Establish an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the authority of Palestinian.
The IDF said the military will prepare to control the city of Gaza while providing humanitarian assistance to “civilians outside the theater.”
It is unclear whether this is new aid and whether it will be provided by the controversial Israeli and the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation or other mechanisms.
Why only take over Gaza City?
Netanyahu said ahead of the cabinet meeting that he wanted Israel to control all Gaza.
In the new plan, only Gaza City is mentioned.
Israel says it currently controls 75% of Gaza, while the United Nations estimates about 86% of the territory is in military areas or evacuation orders.
The plan aims to give Israeli forces control the largest city in the enclave for the first time during the conflict.
It is home to one million residents, surrounded by land that has been under the control of the IDF or subject to evacuation orders.
Our Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega said control over the city could be the first phase of the full takeover of the Gaza Strip.
There are also speculations that the threat of a full-scale career could be part of a strategy to put pressure on Hamas to make concessions in stagnant negotiations.
Netanyahu told Fox News Israel “don’t want to keep it” and intends to hand it over to “Arab forces.”
“We want to have a safe perimeter. We don’t want to rule it,” he told The Outlet.
When will Israel take over Gaza City?
Israel has not said when it will start taking over, but reports in Israeli media have shown that the military will not move into Gaza immediately – residents need to evacuate first.
Israel said it believes that the “alternative plan” proposed to its cabinet will not “realize Hamas’ defeat or return of the kidnapped.”
However, it is not clear what the alternative plan is or who submitted it. Israeli media reported that this was a more limited proposal by the Army Chief of Staff.
According to Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s chief international correspondent, Netanyahu was “intentionally vague” about what he called the Arab forces because he had followed Gaza’s plans in the past.
He may be referring to Jordanians and Egyptians who say they are willing to work with Israel – but they have made it clear that they will not enter Gaza behind the Israeli occupation.
There is no further details on the government’s timeline after Gaza’s takeover, and Hamas has not responded to the plan.
What is the reaction?
Netanyahu faces criticism from hostage families and world leaders.
For some time, Israel’s military leaders have been saying that their work in Gaza has been completed because Hamas no longer poses a threat to organized military power.
British Prime Minister Sir Kyle Starmer called Israel’s escalation “wrong” and “only more bloodshed”.
Palestinian State Initiative President Mustafa Barghouti said Israel’s decision to expand military operations in Gaza was a “declaration of war crimes.”
Turkey’s foreign ministry said Israel’s goal is to “force the replacement of Palestinians from their own land”, while Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said she hopes to stop Gaza immediately and release Israeli hostages immediately.
Australia also urged restraint, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Gaza takeover “will only worsen Gaza’s humanitarian disaster.”
Volker Türk, the head of human rights at the United Nations, said that “the war in Gaza must end immediately” and warned that further escalation would lead to greater forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable pain, accessibility, meaningless destruction and atrocities”.
The Hostage Family Forum headquarters said the decision “has caused a huge disaster to the hostages and our soldiers.”
There are some reports that Americans have approved Netanyahu to take over Gaza.
But it is worth noting that NBC News reported a lively telephone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu at the end of July – what the president called “fake news.”
Other reports by Ruth Comerford.
