Israel approves plan to take control of Gaza City

Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in tents, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, August 1, 2025.
Photo: Reuters

Israel's political-security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City early on Friday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intended to take military control of the entire strip despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating almost two-year-old war, Reuters reports.

"The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," Netanyahu's office said in a statement, referring to the Israeli Defence Forces.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing an Israeli official, said, the plan involved evacuating Palestinian civilians from Gaza City and launching a ground offensive there.

Netanyahu on Thursday told Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer in an interview "we intend to" when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory.

"We don'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 governing body."

He said Israel wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces that would govern it. He did not elaborate on the governance arrangements or which Arab countries could be involved.

In its Friday statement, Netanyahu's office said the vast majority of the political-security cabinet members believed that "the alternative plan presented in the cabinet would not achieve the defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages."

Two government sources said any resolution by the security cabinet would need to be approved by the full cabinet.

Among the scenarios being considered ahead of the security meeting was a phased takeover of areas in Gaza not yet under military control, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Evacuation warnings could be issued to Palestinians in specific areas of Gaza, potentially giving them several weeks before the military moves in, the person added.

Total control of the territory would reverse a 2005 decision by Israel by which it withdrew Israeli citizens and soldiers from Gaza, while retaining control over its borders, airspace and utilities.

Smoke rises from Gaza after an aistrike, as seen from the Israeli side of the border between Israel and Gaza, August 7, 2025.
Photo: Reuters

Arab countries would "only support what Palestinians agree and decide on," a Jordanian official source told Reuters, adding that security in Gaza should be handled through "legitimate Palestinian institutions."

Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera the group would treat any force formed to govern Gaza as an "occupying" force linked to Israel.

Opinion polls show most Israelis want the war to end in a deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages.

The White House had no immediate comment. President Donald Trump has declined to say whether he supported or opposed a potential full military takeover of Gaza by Israel.

The U.N. has called reports about a possible expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza "deeply alarming" if true.

The idea, pushed especially by far-right ministers in Netanyahu's coalition, of Israeli forces moving into areas they do not already hold in the enclave has also generated alarm in Israel.

Outside the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on Thursday evening, hundreds of demonstrators protested against an expanded war, demanding an immediate end to the military campaign in return for the release of all the hostages.

Protesters held signs bearing the faces of hostages still held in Gaza and voiced deep frustration with the government’s handling of the crisis.

There are 50 hostages still held in Gaza, of whom Israeli officials believe 20 are alive. Most of those freed so far emerged as a result of diplomatic negotiations. Talks toward a ceasefire that could have seen more hostages released collapsed in July.

The Israeli military says it controls about 75% of Gaza. Most of Gaza's population of about 2 million has been displaced multiple times over the past 22 months and aid groups are warning that the enclave's residents are on the verge of famine.

"Where should we go? We have been displaced and humiliated enough," said Aya Mohammad, 30, who, after repeated displacement, has returned with her family to their community in Gaza City.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs