Israel’s Security Cabinet approves plan to take military control of Gaza

Jerusalem: Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take military control of Gaza City as part of a five-point aim primarily to “disarm” Hamas, a decision that triggered fears of further escalation in the nearly two-year war in the enclave.

The controversial decision to take control of Gaza City came amid massive anti-government protests across Israel demanding an immediate end to the war and ensuring immediate return of over 50 hostages held captive by Hamas for the last 22 months.

“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,” Netanyahu’s office said.

It is not immediately clear what the alternative plan was.

The plan cleared by the Security Cabinet featured five principles.

These are: disarming of Hamas, return of all the hostages, the demilitarisation of Gaza, Israeli security control in Gaza and establishment of a civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones.

Earlier, Israeli Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, cautioned against full military conquest of Gaza City and said it would be a “trap”.

Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israeli cities on October 7, 2023 killing about 1,200 people. Hamas also took 251 people as hostages and over 50 of them are still in its captivity.

Israeli military operations have killed over 60,000 Palestinians since then, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Gaza has been reeling under a massive humanitarian crisis largely due to scarcity of food and medicines. The World Health Organisation said last month that Gaza’s malnutrition rates have reached “alarming levels”.

Ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told a group of visiting Indian journalists that Israel doesn’t want to annex or occupy Gaza and its sole aim is to destroy Hamas and hand over the strip to a transitional government.

The prime minister also said that Israel wants to take control of Gaza’s security.