Israel’s security cabinet on Friday approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to control Gaza's capital city in the north and displace half the population by forcing them south.
Sources told The National that invading Gaza city would be the beginning of reoccupying the entire strip, 20 years after Israel's "disengagement" from the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli army already controls about 75 per cent of Gaza, displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians whose towns and homes have been reduced to ruins.
"The security cabinet – by majority vote – adopted the five principles for concluding the war," a statement by the Prime Minister's office read. "The disarming of Hamas; the return of all the hostages; the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip; Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip; the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
"A decisive majority of security cabinet ministers believed that the alternative plan that had been submitted would neither achieve the defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages."
Under the plan, half the population of Gaza would be pushed forcibly to the south of the territory, an Israeli source confirmed. Israel plans to “gradually” send four to five divisions to carry out the campaign, the source added.
They did not elaborate on how long the operation is expected to take but Israeli media reports say about five months.
The north of the territory has been subjected to air strikes but largely skirted by ground troops, as the Israelis believe Hamas holds the remaining 50 hostages there, 20 of whom are believed to be still alive.
According to NBC, satellite images show the Israeli military building up troops and equipment near the Gaza border. The images show military movements and formations that sources recognise as signs of an imminent major ground operation.
No political solution
The move comes despite concerns within Israel and abroad that a comprehensive military campaign would dash ceasefire talks, kill more Palestinians and endanger hostages.
A Hamas official warned that an expansion of the war would destroy any remaining prospect of a political resolution. "Expanding the war will also destroy prospects for a political solution, one that won't bring Israel security, even at the regional level,” the source told The National.
Mr Netanyahu told Fox News ahead of the cabinet meeting that Israel intends to retake control of Gaza before turning it over to "civilian governance".
The Israeli leader said reoccupation would "ensure our security" and "enable the population to be free" of Hamas rule in Gaza. "We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life".
Mr Netanyahu's plans for a full military takeover have been met with domestic backlash.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the decision to occupy Gaza city is a “disaster that will lead to many more disasters".
Mr Lapid added that several Israeli ministers had “dragged" Mr Netanyahu "into a move that will take many months, lead to the deaths of hostages and soldiers, cost tens of billions for the Israeli taxpayer, and result in a diplomatic collapse”.
“This is exactly what Hamas wanted: for Israel to be trapped in the territory without a goal, without defining the picture of the day after, in a pointless occupation that no one understands where it is leading,” he wrote on X.
About 61,300 Palestinians have been killed in the war with Hamas and other factions, authorities in Gaza say. Most of the enclave's 2.3 million residents have been displaced, many more than once, and large built-up areas have been razed.
At least 190 people have now died of starvation – about 100 of them children – under Israel's blockade of the coastal territory, Gaza health authorities say.
The war began when Hamas led attacks on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 240.
In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza under then-prime minister Ariel Sharon’s “disengagement plan”. All Israeli settlers left, and the military dismantled its bases and departed the territory.
However, while the withdrawal ended Israel’s ground presence, Israel retained control over Gaza’s airspace, coastline and borders, leading the UN and international legal bodies to continue considering Gaza as occupied territory under international law.
