Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a meeting in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior security officials to finalize a new strategy for the nearly two-year conflict in the Gaza Strip, his office said on Tuesday. Media reports indicated he favored a complete military takeover of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.
Despite intense international pressure for a ceasefire to ease hunger and dire conditions in the besieged enclave, efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, have collapsed.
Local health authorities reported that at least 20 people were killed by Israeli gunfire while they waited for United Nations aid trucks in the northern Gaza Strip. In southern Gaza, 20 people were wounded by Israeli gunfire as they waited for aid from UN trucks near Morag Square near Rafah, medics said.
Eight more people died of starvation or malnutrition in the past day, Gaza’s Health Ministry said, while at least 80 people were killed in the latest Israeli shelling. Netanyahu’s office stated that the prime minister held a “limited security discussion” lasting about three hours, during which military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir “presented the options for continuing the campaign in Gaza.”
An Israeli official earlier told Reuters that Defense Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a Netanyahu confidant, would also attend the meeting to decide on a strategy to present to the cabinet this week. Israeli media reported on Tuesday that the cabinet is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 6 pm.
Pressure tactic?
Israel’s Channel 12, citing an official from Netanyahu’s office, stated that the prime minister was leaning toward taking control of the entire territory. This would reverse the 2005 decision to withdraw Israeli citizens and soldiers from Gaza, while keeping control over its borders, airspace, and utilities—a move right-wing parties blame for Hamas gaining power there in the 2006 election. It was unclear, however, whether Netanyahu envisioned a prolonged takeover or a short-term operation aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing Israeli hostages. The prime minister’s office declined to comment on the Channel 12 report. “It is still necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, release our hostages and ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu told new recruits at a military base. “We are not giving up on any of these missions.”
The statement from Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli Defense Forces were “prepared to implement any decision that will be made by the Political-Security Cabinet.” A Palestinian official said the suggestion of a full Israeli military takeover of Gaza may be a tactic to pressure Hamas into concessions, while the Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged foreign nations to heed the reports. “The ministry urges countries and the international community to treat these leaks with utmost seriousness and to intervene urgently to prevent their implementation, whether these leaks are meant to exert pressure, test international reactions, or are genuine and serious,” it said.
The UN called reports about a possible decision to expand Israel’s military operations throughout the Gaza Strip “deeply alarming” if true.
U.S. President Donald Trump declined to say whether the U.S., Israel’s closest military ally, supported Netanyahu’s plans.
“I know that we are there now trying to get people fed,” Trump told reporters. “As far as the rest of it, I really can’t say. That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel.”
Devastating situation in Gaza
This round of the Gaza conflict started when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, were killed, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza.
Israel’s military response has devastated the small, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel’s campaign has forced nearly all of Gaza’s over 2 million residents from their homes and caused what a global hunger monitor called last week an unfolding famine.
Approximately 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died from hunger since this round of the conflict began, according to Gaza authorities. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks moved into central Gaza, but it was unclear if this was part of a larger ground offensive.
Palestinians living in the last quarter of the territory where Israel has not yet gained military control, either through ground incursions or demands for civilians to leave, said any new push would be disastrous.
“If the tanks pushed through, where would we go, into the sea?” said Abu Jehad, a Gaza wood merchant. “This will be like a death sentence to the entire population.”
SOURCE: CGTN News