Israel's security cabinet approves plan to take full control of Gaza

Before Israel's Security Cabinet meeting on Gaza's future, Benjamin Netanyahu had hinted that Israel has no intention to govern the territory and would hand over control to friendly Arab nations

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Israel’s Security Cabinet on Friday (IST) has approved a plan presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take over Gaza.

 

The decision to take full control of the territory was taken on early Friday. It marks another escalation in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7, 2023, Associated Press reported.

 

On Thursday, Netanyahu said that Israel intends to take full control of the Gaza Strip and transfer its administration eventually to Arab forces. This came after the Security Cabinet discussed widening its 22-month offensive to destroy Hamas.

 

Israel’s plan to extend its military operations in Gaza would not only put the lives of Palestinians at risk but also isolate Israel internationally, news reports said. It already controls approximately three-quarters of the Palestinian territory, the Associated Press mentioned. 

 

Israel proposes Arab nations govern Gaza

 

According to a report in The Guardian, before the Security Cabinet meeting took place to discuss Gaza’s future, Netanyahu had hinted that Israel does not want to govern the territory and would hand it over to the friendly Arab nations.

 

When questioned about Israel’s plan to take full control of Gaza, Netanyahu told Fox News, “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza.” He said, “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.” 

 

Israeli Security Cabinet approves plan for Gaza takeover 

Citing local media reports, the Associated Press report said that Eyal Zamir, the military chief of staff of Israel, warned against occupying Gaza. He said that such a move would put the hostages at risk and further strain the Israeli military. As the Israeli military escalates its offensive, families of hostages held in Gaza are fearing for their loved ones, saying that such a move could doom their loved ones. People protested in Jerusalem outside the Security Cabinet meeting. 

 

Israel escalates military offensive in Gaza 

As many as 42 Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes and shooting incidents across southern Gaza. According to Gaza’s health ministry, over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed. 

In the last few weeks, the Israeli military has killed over a hundred people who were heading to receive aid at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites. While the Israeli military claimed that these were warning shots, fired only when crowds came close to their forces, the United Nations' human rights office and health officials said that the Israeli military had regularly opened fire towards the crowds.