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- Author, Writing
- Author's title, BBC News World
Israel's Security Cabinet approved a plan to intensify the war and occupy the city of Gaza, racing the way to militarily capture the entire strip progressively.
The plan, presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is perceived as a risky step that threatens the life of Israeli hostages and could significantly increase the number of civil victims in the Palestinian enclave.
The controversial plan has been harshly criticized by international organizations and governments worldwide.
The high manager of the United Nations Human Rights, Volker Türk, said that “the war in Gaza must end now” and warned that a greater climb “will result in more massive forced displacements, more murders, more unbearable suffering, destruction without meaning and heinous crimes.”
For his part, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keir Starmer, described the escalation of Israel as “wrong” and pointed out that he would only bring “more bloodshed.”
There is still much that is not clear about the Israeli plan.
Israel has not yet said when it will begin to “take control” of the territory. Some Israeli media point out that the army will order residents to evacuate first.
The cabinet also agreed that Israel would provide “humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat areas”, but it is not known whether it is a new form of aid or if it will be delivered by the controversial Humanitarian Foundation of Gaza, backed by Israel and the United States.
In this note we summarize in four keys what is known about the controversial plan.
1. The 5 “Principles” of the Plan
In a statement published Friday by the Office of the Prime Minister, the Government of Israel announced that “the Israel Defense Forces (FDI) will prepare to take control of the city of Gaza while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat areas.”
According to the statement, Israel will follow certain “principles” with which the conflict is sought:
- The disarmament of Hamas.
- The return of all hostages, both alive and dead.
- The demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
- Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip.
- The existence of an alternative civil government that does not lead it to Hamas or the Palestinian authority.
Image source, Getty Images
In an interview granted hours before Fox News, Benjamin Netanyahu said that to guarantee the security of Israel his government intended to expel Hamas, to allow the population of Gaza to free and deliver the territory to a civil government.
“We want to free ourselves and free the people of Gaza from the terrible terror of Hamas,” he continued.
But Netanyahu also said that Israel “doesn't want to keep it.”
“We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a government body,” he added.
2. The number of displaced Palestinians
It is believed that the plan to completely occupy Gaza will force one million residents of the Strip to move further south.
Israel, who controls around 75% of the territory, has not operated in the city of Gaza or in the camps in the center of the strip, where around one million Palestinians live.
Since the beginning of the war, most of the two million inhabitants of Gaza have had to travel repeatedly and make life in camps of tents distributed throughout the territory, under increasingly precarious conditions.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 61,000 Palestinians have died in the Israeli offensive. Most fatalities have been women and children.
Image source, Getty Images
After moving several times in the last two years, after the announcement of the Israeli plan, some Palestinians refuse to do it again.
Sabrine Mahmoud told the BBC that he would not leave his house under any circumstances.
“I will not leave my house. We will not live again.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye urged the international community to prevent Israel's plan and said it aims to “force the Palestinians of their own land.”
3. The hostages
Israel's own army has warned that an expansion of the offensive to achieve total gaza control would endanger the 20 Israeli hostages that are believed to remain alive and are retained in those areas.
The families of the hostages share these concerns and consider that the decision is “a death sentence and the immediate disappearance of our loved ones.”
They believe that the only way to guarantee their release is through a negotiated agreement.
Image source, Getty Images
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum: Traigate them home now declared this Friday that the “expansion of fighting only puts more danger to those who still remain retained in Gaza's tunnels.”
The forum, which provides support to the families of people taken as hostages, accuses the security cabinet of ignoring the repeated warnings of the military dome and the clear will of the majority of the Israeli population.
It also urges the people of Israel to “stop this dangerous course of action”, adding that the government “is taking us to a colossal catastrophe for both hostages and our soldiers.”
“The cabinet decided last night to undertake another reckless march, at the expense of hostages, soldiers and Israeli society as a whole. But it is not too late yet.”
For its part, the newspaper Ma'ariv Thursday reported that the “predominant estimate is that most living hostages, and possibly all, will die” if the offensive is extended, either at the hands of their captors or accidentally by the fire of Israeli soldiers.
4. The opposition to the plan
There are reports of a real disagreement and opposition by the high spheres of the Israeli army to the operation.
“This week, 600 National Security officials declared that it is time to end the war, in a call to President Trump to press and stop fighting,” says BBC journalist Jon Donnington from Jerusalem.
“Basically, they say that the idea of occupying Gaza, plunging into a probably hostile and insurgent situation is counterproductive, detrimental to Israel's international reputation and without a real long -term plan,” he adds.
“But, as has happened throughout this war, Prime Minister Netanyahu seems determined to follow his own path and believes it is necessary to end Hamas,” Donnington concludes.
A growing number of countries has expressed its rejection of the plan, including long -standing allies of Israel as Germany.
The German government announced this Friday that it will suspend weapons exports to Israel that can be used in the Gaza Strip, according to Foreign Minister Friedrich Merz.
This implies the clearest change in Berlin so far in response to the Israel military campaign.
For its part, the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an inseparable part of the Palestinian territory” and requested a high immediate fire.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, described the plans of the Israeli government to “intensify operations in Gaza” as “a wrong measure” and said that “it will not help hostages to return home.”
Denmark pointed out that Israel must reverse her decision, while the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called the country to reconsider her plans.
But the nearest ally government of Israel, the United States, has not yet pronounced.
Reports have emerged that the Americans would have given the green light to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to take control of the city of Gaza, according to Jerusalem, the analyst Jeremy Bowen, an international editor of the BBC.
It is information that has not yet been confirmed, but for many it is clear that Netanyahu has less and less allies within their country and in the world.
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