Israeli government approves plan to occupy Gaza City

The Israeli Government Security Cabinet approved this morning a military plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy Gaza City, in the north of the enclave.

After about ten hours of meetings, the Israeli government released a statement outlining Netanyahu's plan to "defeat Hamas," which includes occupying Gaza City, without clarifying what will happen to the rest of the enclave, despite the prime minister having declared his intention to extend the operation to the entire Strip before beginning the discussion session with the cabinet.

"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will prepare to take control of Gaza City, while ensuring the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside combat zones," the statement said.

The government also guarantees that the cabinet adopted "by majority vote" five principles to end the war: disarming Hamas, the return of all hostages, whether alive or not, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli control of security in the Gaza Strip and the establishment of an "alternative civil administration" for the enclave, which is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs parts of the occupied West Bank.

Speaking to the US television station Fox News before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his goal was to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, but that he did not intend to keep it or govern it, but rather to maintain a "security perimeter" and hand it over to "Arab forces that govern it" without threatening Israel and without Hamas.

According to the statement, an “alternative plan” was discarded at the meeting, as it was considered that “it would not achieve either the defeat of Hamas or the return of the hostages.”

Israeli media reports that this plan came from the Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, who had previously confronted Netanyahu by expressing his rejection of the occupation of the entire Strip.

In recent days, the country's main media outlets have reported on Netanyahu's intention to expand the offensive to the areas where the hostages are believed to be held, in a multi-phase plan.

In the first, Israeli troops would occupy Gaza City and force the displacement of the million Palestinians still in the city to the Mawasi area (south), already overcrowded with displaced people.

Subsequently, Israel would seek to take control of the refugee camps in the center of the Strip, locations where troop incursions have been limited. Israel estimates that hostages are still alive in all of these locations.

Official information released by the Israeli government, however, does not confirm any action beyond the capture of Gaza City.

Palestinian militias still hold 50 Israeli hostages, of which only about 20 remain alive, according to Israeli estimates.

The UN warned on Wednesday that if Israel implements this plan, there will be “catastrophic consequences” for the population of Gaza.