Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday, marking a sharp escalation in the 22-month war that has devastated the enclave and left much of its population on the brink of famine.
The decision, taken in an overnight session that began Thursday, falls short of Netanyahu’s earlier pledge to retake all of Gaza and hand it over to friendly Arab forces opposed to Hamas — a sign of apparent pushback from Israel’s top general, who has warned such a move could endanger the roughly 20 hostages believed to still be alive and strain the military after nearly two years of war.
The war erupted after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. Most have since been freed in deals or cease-fires, but 50 remain in Gaza.
Families of the captives, joined by former senior security officials, have protested against the plan, warning that further escalation could doom the remaining hostages and entangle Israel in a costly urban quagmire. “Netanyahu is working only for himself,” said Yehuda Cohen, whose soldier son is among those held in Gaza.
Fears of Mass Displacement
Israel has pounded Gaza City with airstrikes and raids throughout the war, only for militants to regroup. The city, once the territory’s largest urban center, is now one of the few areas not turned into a buffer zone or fully evacuated. A new ground offensive could displace tens of thousands more and choke off already limited food supplies.
The Gaza Health Ministry says Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, a figure widely cited by the U.N. and independent experts as the best available estimate, though Israel disputes it without providing its own tally.
On Thursday alone, at least 42 Palestinians were killed in southern Gaza, according to local hospitals. Thirteen of them died while seeking food in an Israeli-controlled zone known as the Morag Corridor, where U.N. convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by desperate crowds.
Aid Chaos and Deadly Clashes
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) issued a scathing report accusing the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) of operating a dangerous and chaotic food distribution system. The group said it treated nearly 1,400 people injured near GHF sites in just six weeks, including 147 with gunshot wounds. “This is not aid. It is orchestrated killing,” MSF said.
GHF, an American contractor, rejected the allegations as “false and disgraceful,” accusing MSF of spreading Hamas-backed disinformation. Israel and the U.S. set up GHF as an alternative to U.N.-run aid channels, claiming Hamas was siphoning supplies. The U.N. denies large-scale diversion and says GHF forces Palestinians to risk their lives for food while aiding Israel’s displacement plans.
Netanyahu Defiant
In a Fox News interview ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel intends to “assure our security, remove Hamas, [and] enable the population to be free of Gaza.” He added that Israel does not plan to permanently occupy the territory, but would maintain a “security perimeter” before handing it to Arab forces “that will govern it properly.”
Despite international criticism, Netanyahu’s far-right allies are urging deeper incursions, the relocation of Gaza’s population to other countries, and the return of Jewish settlements dismantled in 2005.
For many in Gaza, such political maneuvering offers little hope. “There is nothing left to occupy,” said Maysaa al-Heila, living in a displacement camp. “There is no Gaza left.”
