Israel’s security cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to occupy Gaza City, the Prime Minister’s Office told CNN on Friday. The decision clears the way for the military to prepare for a takeover of the city.
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will prepare for the takeover of Gaza City while ensuring the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," the office said, according to the report.
The Prime Minister’s Office said most cabinet ministers felt a different plan would fail. “An overwhelming majority of cabinet ministers believed that the alternative plan presented would neither achieve Hamas’s defeat nor bring back the hostages," it quoted the office as saying. More details of the approved plan have not yet been released.
Netanyahu has insisted Israel does not want to annexe or occupy Gaza permanently. He says the goal is to destroy Hamas and then transfer control to a temporary government. He told reporters Israel aims to secure Gaza’s safety after the war ends.
“We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza, and to pass it civilian governance," Netanyahu said, as reported by Fox News. He added, “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter, but we don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body."
Netanyahu said officials will draw a “detailed plan" for governance after Hamas is removed. According to the report, that plan would not include the Palestinian Authority. “We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly, without threatening us, and giving the Gazans a good life," he said.
The prime minister’s comments come as world leaders sharply criticise Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. An estimated 60,000 people have died in the Israeli offensive over the past 22 months.
Israel launched the war after Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023. That assault killed about 1,200 people and left 251 people taken hostage.
