Israel Working on New Gaza Strategy Following International Outcry
Negotiations on a new truce with Iran-backed Hamas stalled last month, leaving the almost two-year-long conflict at another impasse as United Nations warnings of famine and malnutrition grow more dire.
Israel has long stated its objectives are to free the roughly 50 hostages that remain in captivity — about 20 of whom are believed to be alive — while destroying Hamas as a governing and military force.
Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other countries, has said it wants an agreement to end the war but has rejected Israeli calls to disarm.
Briefing his ministers on Monday, Netanyahu said he would convene the Security Cabinet this week to direct the Israel Defense Forces on 'how to achieve the three war goals that we set out,' according to an official statement, which didn't give further detail. 'We must continue to stand together and fight together in order to achieve them.'
The hint of a new strategy comes as Israel faces the most international pressure regarding its conduct of the war since the October 2023 Hamas attacks that triggered the conflict. The United Nations and aid groups have warned of increasing starvation in Gaza due to Israeli restrictions on aid — something Israel denies — and a number of Western governments have pledged to move toward recognition of a Palestinian state.
Within Israel, hundreds of artists have signed a petition against the war, while retired defense chiefs have taken to the airwaves to argue there's little left to be achieved through force. Local media including Channel 12 has reported on disagreements between the government and military leaders — and even among Security Cabinet ministers — about the Gaza strategy.
Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar, a senior member of Netanyahu's Likud party, said the government 'does not have time to waste' given worries for the fate of the hostages — and issued a warning of intensified military pressure on Hamas.
'The only option for Hamas to save itself is to return the hostages and leave the Gaza Strip,' he told Galey Israel radio. 'If that doesn't happen - none of them will get out. We'll hunt them until the end.'
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. It has devastated swaths of the territory, which is now about 75% controlled by the Israeli army. Overrunning the rest would expose troops and tanks to redoubled urban battles. About 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, with 250 abducted.
Hamas has signalled defiance. 'We, the sons of the Palestinian people, will not hand over our weapons,' senior official Ghazi Hamad told Al Jazeera. 'Not even a blank bullet.'
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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