Israel’s army “will prepare to take control of Gaza City”, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said in a statement issued on Friday (August 8). While doing so, it will distribute humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones, it added.
As Israel’s security cabinet convened on Thursday night, Mr Netanyahu said he planned to fully occupy Gaza, but he did not intend to govern it. The Israeli prime minister told Fox News that a full occupation would be the only way to ensure Israel’s security and wipe out Hamas. He added Israel did not want “to keep” the Gaza Strip, and that he would prefer to hand the Palestinian territory to “Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. “That’s not possible with Hamas.”
Overnight, the Security Council approved five principles for concluding the war, which involved: the disarmament of Hamas, the return of all hostages (alive and dead), the demilitarisation and establishment of Israeli security control of the Gaza Strip and the installation 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 to the security cabinet would neither achieve the defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages,” a statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office added, but did not give any further details.
Mr Netanyahu’s plan to fully occupy Gaza has been met with criticism and concern from both protesters in Jerusalem and at home in the UK. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Israeli government’s decision to “further escalate its offensive” and take over Gaza City “is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately”.
“This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed,” the statement continued. “Every day the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and hostages taken by Hamas are being held in appalling and inhuman conditions. What we need is a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and a negotiated solution. Hamas can play no part in the future of Gaza and must leave as well as disarm.
“Together with our allies, we are working on a long-term plan to secure peace in the region as part of a two-state solution, and ultimately achieve a brighter future for Palestinians and Israelis.
“But without both sides engaging in good faith in negotiations, that prospect is vanishing before our eyes. Our message is clear: a diplomatic solution is possible, but both parties must step away from the path of destruction.”
Earlier today, a junior minister said the UK Government hopes Israel reconsiders its plan to take over Gaza City.
“We think that decision is the wrong decision, and we hope that the Israeli government will reconsider it,” Miatta Fahnbulleh, a junior energy minister, said on Times Radio. “It risks escalating an already intolerable and atrocious situation.”
She said later on Sky News: “Our priority is, in order to try and get a ceasefire, we’ve got to get parties around the table. I know it feels incredibly hard given the current situation, but it has to be the priority.”
Earlier this week, the UN described the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as “critical”, with 2.1 million people fighting starvation because of aid shortages.