Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to take over Gaza City, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said, marking another escalation in the 22-month offensive that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed most of Gaza and pushed the territory into famine.
Ahead of the security cabinet meeting, which began Thursday and ran through the night, Netanyahu had said Israel planned to retake control over the entire territory and eventually hand it off to friendly Arab forces opposed to Hamas.
The announced plans stop short of that, perhaps reflecting the reservations of Israel’s top general, who reportedly warned that it would endanger the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel’s army after nearly two years of regional wars. Many families of hostages are also opposed, fearing further escalation will doom their loved ones.
The resolution by the security cabinet will still need to be approved by the full cabinet, which may not meet until Sunday.
Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and carried out numerous raids there, only to return to different neighbourhoods again and again as militants regrouped. Today it is one of the few areas of Gaza that hasn’t been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders.
The plan would mean sending ground troops into the remaining territory, approximately 25% of Gaza.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, the plan is being framed as a limited operation rather than a full invasion, apparently to placate military chiefs wary of long-term occupation. The chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, has reportedly warned that occupying Gaza would plunge Israel into a “black hole” of prolonged insurgency, humanitarian responsibility and heightened risk to hostages.
A major ground operation there could displace tens of thousands of people and further disrupt efforts to deliver food to the territory.
The plan would force approximately 1 million Palestinians in Gaza City and other areas into evacuation areas in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. According to sources familiar with the details of the meeting, the evacuation of Gaza City is scheduled to be completed by 7 October.
The Israeli security cabinet’s decision has ignited protests both at home and abroad. Thousands of demonstrators are preparing to take to the streets over the weekend, while families of the remaining hostages held in Gaza fear an escalation could doom their loved ones. Dozens of them protested outside the security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Former top Israeli security officials have also come out against the plan, warning of a quagmire with little added military benefit. Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, denounced the cabinet’s move on Friday, calling it a disaster that would “lead to many other disasters”, including the death of the hostages and the killing of many soldiers, as well as costing Israeli taxpayers tens of billions and causing “diplomatic bankruptcy”.
The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said Israel‘s decision was wrong and urged it to immediately reconsider.
“This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed,” he said in a statement.
UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the Israeli government’s plan for a complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip “must be immediately halted”.
Netanyahu’s office said that under the plan to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army would prepare to “take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones”.
An Israeli official had earlier said the security cabinet would discuss plans to conquer all or parts of Gaza not yet under Israeli control. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending a formal decision, said that whatever was approved would be implemented gradually to increase pressure on the Palestinian militant group.
Palestinians, at least 90% of whom have already been displaced at least once by the war and of whom nearly one in ten have been injured in Israeli attacks, are braced for further misery. There is little left remaining of the healthcare system and aid agencies such as the UN have been largely shut out by Israel.
Aya Mohammad, a 30-year-old Palestinian who, after repeated displacement, had returned with her family to Gaza City, said: “Where should we go? We have been displaced and humiliated enough.
“You know what displacement is? Does the world know? It means your dignity is wiped out, you become a homeless beggar, searching for food, water and medicine.”
At least 42 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals.
Asked in an interview with Fox News ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting if Israel would “take control of all of Gaza,” Netanyahu replied: “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza.”
“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” Netanyahu said in the interview. “We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.”
Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, mostly civilians. The figure does not include the thousands believed to be buried under the rubble or the thousands killed by the indirect consequences of the war.
