Netanyahu Announces Plan to Take Over Gaza City, Escalating Conflict Further

Published: 08 August. The English Chronicle Desk

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a contentious plan to seize control of Gaza City, signaling a sharp escalation in the ongoing 22-month military offensive that has devastated Gaza, claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, and plunged the region into a humanitarian crisis. The decision, announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, marks a significant development in Israel’s protracted conflict with Hamas, the militant group governing Gaza.

The plan, still pending approval from the full cabinet expected to convene by Sunday, outlines the deployment of Israeli ground forces to reclaim the remaining 25% of Gaza territory not yet under their control. However, it stops short of Netanyahu’s earlier declaration of intent to retake the entire Gaza Strip and eventually transfer authority to friendly Arab factions opposed to Hamas. This cautious step appears influenced by concerns voiced by Israel’s military leadership, including Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, who warned that a full occupation could trigger a prolonged insurgency, exacerbate humanitarian responsibilities, and endanger the approximately 20 hostages still held by Hamas.

The military operation is being framed as a limited campaign rather than a full-scale invasion to mitigate fears among military officials and political actors wary of long-term entanglement. Nevertheless, it will involve significant troop deployments into Gaza City, one of the last areas not yet transformed into an Israeli buffer zone or evacuated. The operation threatens to displace around one million Palestinians who currently reside in Gaza City and its environs, forcing them to move southward, with the evacuation slated for completion by 7 October.

The Israeli offensive has wrought immense destruction on Gaza’s infrastructure, decimating health services and restricting access to vital humanitarian aid. The United Nations and aid agencies report severe impediments to relief efforts amid relentless Israeli bombardments.

Domestic opposition to the plan has been vocal. Families of hostages protested outside the security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, expressing fear that the intensified military campaign could jeopardize their loved ones’ lives. Former senior Israeli security officials cautioned that the plan risks plunging Israel into a protracted and costly quagmire with minimal strategic gains. Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the move, predicting it would result in numerous casualties, massive financial costs, and diplomatic fallout.

International reaction has also been critical. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the decision as counterproductive, urging Israel to reconsider its approach to prevent further bloodshed. Volker Türk, UN human rights chief, called for an immediate halt to the plan, emphasizing the potential for catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

For Palestinians in Gaza, already displaced multiple times, the announcement represents yet another chapter in a relentless cycle of suffering. Aya Mohammad, a resident of Gaza City, voiced the despair felt by many: “Where should we go? We have been displaced and humiliated enough. Displacement means losing your dignity, becoming a homeless beggar in search of food, water, and medicine.”

Despite the looming ground operation, Netanyahu reiterated in an interview with Fox News that Israel’s goal is to eliminate Hamas’s threat, establish security, and ultimately transfer governance of Gaza to Arab forces that would ensure stability without endangering Israeli security. “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” he said.

Since the start of the offensive, Israel’s military actions have resulted in the deaths of at least 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, with the toll predominantly comprising civilians. These figures exclude the countless others presumed buried beneath rubble or succumbing to war’s indirect consequences.

As tensions rise and the international community watches closely, the fate of Gaza and its people hangs precariously in the balance, with hopes for peace dimming amid the shadow of renewed conflict and humanitarian disaster.