By Alexander Cornwell, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Charlotte Greenfield
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel's political-security cabinet approved a plan early on Friday to take control of Gaza City, a move expanding military operations despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating, almost two-year-old war.
Far-right allies in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition have been pushing for a total takeover of Gaza as part of his vow to eradicate Hamas militants, though the military has warned this could jeopardise the lives of remaining hostages.
The decision came after multiple failed attempts to mediate a ceasefire and amid a rising international outcry over images of starving Palestinian children underlining a deepening humanitarian disaster in the shattered enclave.
"The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," Netanyahu's office said in a statement, referring to the Israeli Defence Forces.
While Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel intended to take military control of the entire Gaza Strip, the plan approved on Friday focused specifically on sprawling Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre, located in its north.
Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing an Israeli official, said on X the plan involved evacuating Palestinian civilians from Gaza City and launching a ground offensive there.
Asked if Israel, whose forces say they already hold about 75% of the slender coastal strip, would occupy all of it, Netanyahu told Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer in an interview on Thursday: "We intend to."
But he said Israel wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces to govern it. He did not elaborate on the governance arrangements or which Arab countries could be involved.
"We don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body," he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Israel's decision to seize Gaza City was wrong and urged it to 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.
Australia urged Israel "not to go down this path".
Israeli officials described a previous meeting this week with the head of the military as tense, saying military chief Eyal Zamir had pushed back against expanding Israel's campaign, which has displaced almost all Gaza's 2.2 million people.
Netanyahu, who has said there will be no end to the war until Hamas is completely destroyed, has come under pressure from Israelis to do whatever it takes to bring home hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, though many want the war to stop.
"Well, basically, I think it's a death sentence to all the hostages that are still being held there. And it's the wrong decision to do it at this time," said Danny Bukovsky, a hotelier in Tel Aviv.
Among the scenarios considered ahead of the security meeting was a phased takeover of areas in Gaza not yet under military control, a government source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Evacuation warnings could be issued to Palestinians in specific areas of Gaza, potentially giving them several weeks before the military moves in, the person added.
In its Friday statement, Netanyahu's office said the vast majority of the political-security cabinet members believed that "the alternative plan presented in the cabinet would not achieve the defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages."
'BLATANT COUP'
A full occupation of Gaza would reverse a 2005 decision in which Israel withdrew thousands of Jewish settlers and its forces after mounting Palestinian militant attacks, while retaining control over its borders, airspace and utilities.
Israeli right-wing parties blame that decision for the rise to power in Gaza of the Islamist Hamas movement in a 2006 election.
It was unclear whether Netanyahu was foreseeing a prolonged takeover or a short-term operation.
In a statement, Hamas called Netanyahu's comments "a blatant coup" against the negotiation process.
Arab countries will "only support what Palestinians agree and decide on," a Jordanian official source told Reuters, adding that security in Gaza should be handled through "legitimate Palestinian institutions".
Netanyahu's government has ruled out a return to Gaza of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank under 1990s interim peace accords.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan told pan-Arab network Al Jazeera the group would treat any force formed to govern Gaza as an "occupying" entity linked to Israel.
Earlier this year, Israel and the United States rejected an Egyptian proposal, backed by Arab leaders, that envisaged the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the war.
The White House had no immediate comment on Netanyahu's announcement. President Donald Trump has declined to say whether he supported or opposed a potential full military takeover of Gaza by Israel.
REMAINING HOSTAGES
There are 50 hostages still held in Gaza, of whom Israeli officials believe 20 are alive. Most of those freed so far emerged as a result of diplomatic negotiations. Talks toward a ceasefire that could have seen more hostages released collapsed in July.
Videos released last week of two living hostages showed them emaciated and frail, stirring international condemnation.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but now controls only fragments, insists any deal must lead to a permanent end to the war. Israel says the group has no intention of going through with promises to give up power afterwards.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Additional reporting by Steven Scheer in Jerusalem, Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, Doina Chiacu and Kanishka Singh in Washington and Hatem Maher in Cairo and Rami Amichay in Tel Aviv, Sam Tabahriti in London, Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Stephen Coates, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Michael Georgy and Mark Heinrich)
Comments