Cliff Notes – Israel plan to seize all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlines an intensive plan for Israel to capture and maintain control over the Gaza Strip, with troops expected to remain for an unspecified duration.
- The Israeli cabinet’s strategy aims to push Gaza’s civilian population south and prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, despite international criticism regarding its humanitarian implications.
- The United Nations has condemned the offensive plan, warning it would exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis and leave vulnerable populations without necessary supplies.
Israel plan to seize all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely – Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel’s plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip will be intensive, with troops to remain there for an unspecified length of time.
The Israeli prime minister says IDF forces will not launch raids and then abandon territory, “but the opposite”.
The Israeli official said the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Olga Cherevko from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the proposal was “in contravention of globally-established humanitarian principles”.
She warned that the idea could mean “putting people at greater risk” and raises the chance of aid “not getting through to the most vulnerable people”, such as those with mobility issues, who cannot make it to these proposed hubs that would be established”.
Ms Chervoko rejected Israeli claims that much of the aid delivered to Gaza was being siphoned off by Hamas and warned her agency was “rapidly running out of everything”.
Asked about the situation in Gaza, she described it as “absolutely desperate” as “almost every day I see people fighting over water, fighting over food”.
‘Netanyahu has failed in his brutal war’
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims, but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
Sources
Netanyahu Warns of ‘Intensive’ Escalation From Israel in Gaza Campaign – The New York Times
Israel approves plan to capture all of Gaza and keep soldiers there indefinitely – The Independent
