Israel's security cabinet approves Netanyahu's plan to reoccupy Gaza City

Israel's security cabinet involving extremist ministers has endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious plan for the reoccupation of Gaza City. (Photo/AP)

Israel's security cabinet involving extremist ministers has endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious plan for the reoccupation of Gaza City.

Following a cabinet meeting that commenced on Thursday, a decision was announced early on Friday.

This followed Netanyahu's submission of a plan for the Israeli military to reoccupy the entire enclave, 75 percent of which is already under Israeli occupation.

The meeting came as Netanyahu faced mounting pressure at home and abroad for a deal to spare the remaining captives held by Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza and pull the genocide-hit territory back from the brink of starvation crisis.

Netanyahu presented a phased plan to seize control of Gaza during the high-stakes meeting, local media said.

The public broadcaster KAN, citing unnamed official sources, said Netanyahu proposed what was described as a "light" and "gradual" strategy during one of the most sensitive meetings since the Gaza genocide began.

According to the report, the plan calls for Israeli occupational forces to advance into areas they have not previously invaded, including what it describes as "Hamas training camps" in central Gaza and main Gaza City itself — despite warnings from the army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.

The plan begins with uprooting Gaza City's residents to the south, followed by encircling the city and launching further ground incursions into densely populated areas, the sources told KAN.

Several ministers reportedly rejected any plan that falls short of full territorial control over Gaza.

Aryeh Deri, head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, warned that prolonging the war would carry political costs and endanger the lives of hostages.

Deri, a minister without portfolio, called on ministers to consider the military's assessments, saying Netanyahu's plan risks "ongoing political damage" and could put captives at greater risk, KAN reported.

Zamir reiterated his opposition to any plan involving full reoccupation of Gaza.

He cited key risks, including harm to hostages, exhaustion of Israeli troops and reservists, and damage to Israel's international legitimacy.

Ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu took to the airwaves in the US, where he told Fox News the government intends to take full control of Gaza.

"We intend to," Netanyahu replied, when asked if Israel will take control of "all of Gaza."

Asked by Fox News if Israel would again control the whole of Gaza, as it did between 1967 and 2005, Netanyahu replied: "Well, we don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimetre. We don't want to govern it."

"We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. That's not possible with Hamas," he said.

As the meeting kicked off, hundreds rallied near the prime minister's office in West Jerusalem, where they called for a deal to release the hostages.

Earlier on Thursday, relatives of hostages set sail from the port of Ashkelon [Asqalan in Arabic] seeking to approach besieged Gaza.

Organisers said they hoped to "get as close as possible to their loved ones".

The families denounced Netanyahu's plan to expand the genocide.

Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier held in Gaza, said from the boat that Netanyahu is prolonging the genocide to satisfy extremists in his regime and to prevent it from collapsing.

"Netanyahu is working only for himself," he said, pleading with the international community to put pressure on Netanyahu to stop the genocide and save his son.

'More destruction'

Israel has been carrying out a genocide in Gaza since October 2023. Palestinians have recorded killings of more than 62,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Some 11,000 Palestinians are feared buried under rubble of annihilated homes, according to Palestine's official WAFA news agency.

Experts, however, contend that the actual death toll significantly exceeds what the Gaza authorities have reported, estimating it could be around 200,000.

Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas' 2023 blitz, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead. Palestinians say many captive were killed in indiscriminate strikes by Israel since 2023.

Israel has abducted and jailed some 11,000 Palestinians.

'More destruction and death'

On Wednesday, Defence Minister Israel Katz had weighed in on social media saying that "it is the right and duty of the chief of staff to express his position", but the military must ultimately respect any policies adopted by the government.

In a statement released by the military on Thursday, Zamir underscored his independence, vowing to "continue to express our position without fear".

"We are not dealing with theory — we are dealing with matters of life and death, with the defence of the state, and we do so while looking directly into the eyes of our soldiers and citizens," Zamir said in the statement.

In Gaza, meanwhile, fears grew over what an expansion of Israeli genocide would entail.

"Ground operations mean more destruction and death. There is no safe place anywhere," said Ahmad Salem, 45.

"If Israel starts and expands its ground operations again, we'll be the first victims."

"There is nothing left to occupy," said Maysaa al-Heila, who is living in a displacement camp. "There is no Gaza left."

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Source: TRT