Netanyahu says Gaza takeover ‘best way' forward as anger grows at home
Addressing journalists in a rare live press conference on Sunday, Netanyahu said a security zone would be established near the Gaza border, with a civilian administration led by neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, to live 'in peace with Israel' and prevent 'future terrorist incursions'.
Military expansion into Gaza's two remaining Hamas strongholds, Gaza City and the central refugee camps where the militants are holding Israeli captives, was 'the best way to end the war, and to speedily end the war', the Israeli prime minister said.
The offensive has provoked widespread international condemnation but is also increasingly angering Israelis, who have called for a nationwide strike next Sunday, the first working day of the week. Private companies, organisations, businesses, workers' unions, left-wing politicians and individuals are expected to participate in an economic shutdown from 7am.
'Now the government has decided to expand the war and push deeper into Gaza. Every invasion, every bullet, every airstrike could cost him his life,' Lishay Miran Lavi, whose husband is held in the areas the army is set to besiege, said on Saturday night at a rally of tens of thousands in Hostage Square, Tel Aviv. 'This isn't just a military decision. It could be a death sentence.'
Of the 251 hostages captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023, more than 40 were already dead when they were taken into Gaza. The majority have been freed in ceasefire deals, although six were shot dead in a tunnel in Rafah and another three were killed by Israeli friendly fire. Others, including Yossi Sharabi, were thought to have been killed by Israeli bombardment of places where they were being held. Israel says 49 hostages are still held in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
Israeli protesters also disrupted a live broadcast of the country's Big Brother reality TV show on Saturday night. Activists said the war on Gaza was 'killing all of us'.
'While the hostages are abandoned to their deaths and children are starving just an hour's drive away from the Big Brother studios, the media is not telling the nation what is going on in Gaza,' a statement from Standing Together, an Arab-Jewish social justice movement, said.
Italy's foreign minister joined a chorus the condemnation on Sunday, saying 'the invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers'.
Within Netanyahu's coalition, his plans were criticised for not going far enough. Bezalel Smotrich, his far-right finance minister, said they did 'not aim for a decisive resolution'. He told Kan radio: 'It is possible to achieve victory. I want all of Gaza, transfer and colonisation. This plan will not endanger the troops.'
More extreme members of Netanyahu's cabinet, including Smotrich, have held considerable sway throughout the war, their support seen as vital to holding at least 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority.
The Israel military has been dropping in supplies by parachute
MOIZ SALHI/ANDALOU/GETTY IMAGES
During his press conference Netanyahu defended the plan, which was voted on by the security cabinet over the weekend, to send soldiers into the last areas outside of Israel's control.
Gaza City is the largest urban centre of the Gaza Strip. Its population swollen with Palestinians seeking shelter, it is home to some one million people.
Netanyahu said designated safe zones would provide food, water and medical care for those forced out of the north and centre of the Strip and into al-Mawasi, which is already teeming with displaced civilians who have little access to basic facilities and sanitation.
Aid organisations say too little is reaching those who need it and have criticised the new aid mechanism, run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and overseen by Israel. They say it weaponises essential supplies and has proved unsafe for desperate Palestinians in search of food.
• Israel could cut UK security ties if Keir Starmer recognises Palestine
Israel has also begun air drops of aid into Gaza, a method that has been criticised for being deadly and ineffective. On Saturday, a teenage Gazan was crushed to death by a falling crate.
The Israel Defence Forces said they continued to improve the humanitarian response in Gaza while 'refuting the false claims' of deliberate starvation and said that more than 130 food aid packages from the UAE, Jordan, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Italy were dropped into Gaza on Sunday.
At an emergency UN security council meeting on Sunday, Miroslav Jenca, the UN assistant secretary-general for Europe, central Asia and the Americas, said continued war endangered both Palestinians and the hostages.
'We are already witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe of unimaginable scale in Gaza,' he said. 'If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings and destruction, compounding the unbearable suffering of the population.'
Netanyahu, standing before pictures of starving children emblazoned with red stickers saying 'fake', said that while there were issues of deprivation in Gaza, stories of starvation and malnutrition were Hamas 'lies'.
The Israeli prime minister's office confirmed on Sunday that Netanyahu had spoken to President Trump about his offensive. 'The two discussed Israel's plans to take control of the remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza to bring an end to the war by securing the release of the hostages and defeating Hamas,' Netanyahu's office said.
Some army officials believe that entering Gaza City is crucial to defeating Hamas and poses a lesser risk to the hostages, who are in central camps which are, for now, off the agenda. Brigadier General (Reserve) Oren Solomon said those army leaders opposed to the offensive were 'captives of the concepts of October 6'.
'It is a decision to take control of Gaza City, which is more than a symbol as the capital of the Gaza Strip, and it is the command centre of Izz ad-Din Haddad, the commander of Hamas's military wing. Therefore, it is important to occupy and take control of Gaza City, which in professional language is a 'centre of gravity', meaning a place of strategic importance,' he said.
Solomon said once the population had left Gaza City, electricity, water and aid had to be cut off before ground troops entered.
Netanyahu said that Israel, which has since the start of the war barred access to Gaza for foreign journalists, has instructed its military to 'bring in' some.
International condemnation of Netanyahu's plan continued on Sunday. Antonio Tajani, the Italian foreign minister, claimed Israel's political leaders should heed its army's warnings. 'The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers,' Tajani said in an interview with Il Messaggero newspaper.
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