Gaza Strip Still Under Attack, Israel Aiming for Complete Control
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israel plans to take control of the entire Gaza Strip, a move that contradicts recommendations from the Israeli army and has sparked warnings that it could endanger hostages and kill more Palestinian civilians.
During an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu stated, “We intend to” occupy all of Gaza.
He claimed the goal was to “assure our security,” oust Hamas from power, and eventually transfer governance to another party, possibly “Arab forces.”
He added that Israel did not want to maintain permanent control over the enclave. This was followed by a security cabinet meeting to discuss expanding military operations, as ceasefire negotiations and the release of hostages broke down. Others see Netanyahu’s threat of expanding the war as a tactic to place pressure on Hamas to offer concessions.
Hamas responded, terming Netanyahu’s statement as “a clear reversal of the path of negotiations.”
The proposed expansion faces significant opposition. Israel’s top military commander, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has voiced concerns about the plan, according to four anonymous Israeli security officials. Zamir is reportedly worried about the strain on military reservists and the immense task of governing millions of Palestinians. The military leadership, in fact, prefers a new cease-fire over escalating the conflict.
The Israeli army estimates it will have a chance in a few months to capture the remaining Gaza territory, but five years of continuous fighting would be needed to set up a long-term governing system such as that which exists in the West Bank.
This is also against the will of many foreign allies, who have been nudging for a stop to the nearly two-year-long war and have of late mounted more pressure against Israel to settle the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Opposition lawmakers and families of hostages have also cautioned against expanding the military campaign.
Parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid called the idea of a wider offensive “a bad operational idea, a bad moral idea and a bad economic idea.”
Family members of the hostages fear a wider offensive would endanger their loved ones’ lives either by creating crossfire during fighting, or by giving Hamas a reason to execute them.
An estimated 250 were kidnapped in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Israeli authorities stated that around 20 to 30 hostages are approximated to still be alive, and 30 others are estimated to have their bodies being held in Gaza.