In the early hours of Friday morning, local time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Security Cabinet of Israel has approved a plan for the Israel military to assume control over Gaza City.
In an official statement, Netanyahu’s office revealed that the Israel Defense Forces are preparing to seize Gaza City while also providing humanitarian aid to civilians in areas not affected by the conflict.
According to Netanyahu’s office, the cabinet has adopted five key principles aimed at resolving the conflict. These principles include disarming Hamas, recovering all hostages, both living and deceased, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, implementing Israeli security oversight in the Gaza Strip, and establishing a new civilian administration in Gaza that functions independently of Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
This decision comes after Netanyahu’s announcement on Thursday that Israel’s goal is to achieve complete control of Gaza, although it does not intend to “retain” or govern the territory, instead choosing to transfer it to “Arab forces.”
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu was asked whether Israel plans to “take control of all of Gaza.”
“We plan to make this happen, in order to keep everyone safe, ensure that the population is liberated from Gaza, transitioning to a civilian government that is neither Hamas nor any group advocating for the destruction of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
“We do not want to keep Gaza,” he said. “Our goal is to create a safe area. We do not want to control it or act as its government. We want to hand over control to Arab forces who can manage it well and ensure that the people in Gaza can live good lives without being a danger to us.”
If Israel increases its military actions in Gaza, it could lead to strong reactions from other countries and push Israel further away from its allies, who are asking Israel to stop fighting amid serious worries from aid groups about a possible famine in the area.
“I think the negotiation has broken down due to Hamas not being serious about negotiating,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Thursday. “I am not sure if they ever were serious, but they are not now. Europe has given them some space. When European leaders put more pressure on Israel than on Hamas—talking about the people in Gaza but ignoring the hostages—Hamas is celebrating and realizing that they are winning.
Huckabee also stressed that any decision about annexing the Gaza Strip is up to the Israeli government alone. “It is not our job to tell them what to do,” Huckabee said. “If they want advice or help, the president would certainly offer it. But in the end, the decision is for the Israelis, and only the Israelis.”
