Israeli government approves Netanyahu's military plan to occupy Gaza City

The Israeli Government approved this morning the military plan proposed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to occupy Gaza City.

After a ten-hour meeting, the Israeli Government has issued a statement explaining Netanyahu's plan to "defeat Hamas . "However, in addition to the occupation of Gaza City, thedocument does not clarify what will happen to the entire Strip, despite the prime minister's intention to extend the operation to the entire area before the start of the debate with the cabinet.

The Government further assures that "by a majority of votes" the Cabinet has adopted five principles to end the invasion: the disarmament of Hamas, the recovery of all hostages alive (or dead), the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip, and the establishment in the enclave of an "alternative civil administration" to that of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority; the latter governs parts of the West Bank currently occupied.

The Palestinian People's Resistance Committees, close to the Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement, have viewed the plan as a "recipe for genocide," refused to lay down their weapons, and stressed that the Israeli authorities will only recover the hostages "through negotiations."

In statements to Fox prior to the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu stated that his goal was to occupy the entire Gaza Strip , but that he does not intend to govern it, but to maintaina "security perimeter" and delegate it to the "Arab forces that will govern it."

According to the statement, "an alternative plan" has been rejectedat the meeting because it "would not achieve the defeat of Hamas or the return of the hostages." Without official mention, the Israeli media reports that the plan was proposed by ArmyChief of Staff Eyal Zamir I Srael, who confronted Netanyahu by expressing his opposition to occupying the entire Strip.

In recent days, the main Israeli media have leaked that Netanyahu has a multi-phase plan for the offensive with the intention of extending it to areas where hostages are believed to be taking place. In the first, the troops would take Gaza City and force the transfer of one million Gazatis gathered in that northern city to the Mawasi area (south).

Then, in the second phase, Israel would seek to take control of the refugee camps in the centre of the Strip, where Israel believes there are survivors.

However, the official information released by the Israeli Government does not confirm any further action other than the capture of Gaza City.

Palestinian militias still hold 50 captives , of which only 20 would remain alive, according to Israel.

The UN warned on Wednesday that if Israel implements this plan , " the consequences will be catastrophic "for the Gazatis.

Since the beginning of the Israeli invasion of Israel in October 2023, more than 60,000 people have died in the Palestinian enclave, a situation denounced as genocide by countries such as South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a qualification also used by international and Israeli human rights organizations.