Benjamin Netanyahu initiates complete Israeli military takeover of Gaza to pressure Hamas on hostages
Mr Netanyahu informed ministers on Monday (Tuesday AEST) that he plans to seek cabinet approval for the move, despite rising opposition from within the Israel Defence Forces and former military leaders, according to reports from The Times of Israel and Hebrew media.
A senior official close to Mr Netanyahu told Ynet, 'The die is cast — we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip.'
Currently, Israeli forces control approximately 75 per cent of Gaza, but this new order would lead to the takeover of the remaining areas as operations intensify to rescue hostages believed to be held in those locations, reported the Jerusalem Post.
The decision reportedly came without consultation with the Israeli military's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, who was told to comply with the directive or resign, according to an internal memo.
This military escalation follows disturbing footage released by Hamas and its ally, Islamic Jihad, showing two Israeli hostages in visibly weakened states, deeply shocking Israel.
Of the 251 people taken during Hamas's October 2023 assault on Israel, 49 remain captive in Gaza, including 27 who are presumed dead.
Footage showing Israeli hostage Evyatar David marking days on a calendar inside a Gaza tunnel confirmed his continued captivity. David, who turned 24 while in captivity, was abducted during the initial Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Senior Israeli officials who discussed the occupation plan alongside Mr Netanyahu believe Hamas will only release the remaining hostages if they are forced to surrender. Channel 12 quoted officials who said, 'If we do not act now, the hostages will die of hunger and Gaza will remain under Hamas control.'
US President Donald Trump and Mr Netanyahu are reportedly coordinating to present Hamas with an ultimatum: release the hostages and disarm, or face a sustained Israeli military campaign.
This development comes as 19 retired Israeli leaders, including former prime minister and IDF chief Ehud Barak, issued a video appeal over the weekend urging Mr Netanyahu to end the war. They criticised the ongoing campaign, blaming the Prime Minister for prolonging the conflict to maintain his fragile right-wing coalition.
'We are on the precipice of defeat,' said former Mossad director Tamir Pardo, reflecting on the growing international outcry over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
'What the world sees today is of our own creation,' he added, referencing images of starvation and suffering among Gaza's children.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar emphasised that the focus should remain on the hostages at an upcoming United Nations Security Council session.
'The world must put an end to the phenomenon of kidnapping civilians. It must be front and centre on the world stage,' Mr Saar said at a press briefing. 'I will head to New York tonight to participate in a special UN Security Council session that I initiated, taking place tomorrow (Tuesday) on the situation of the hostages,' he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Failing to recognise Palestinian state 'rewards' Israel
Failing to recognise a Palestinian state would reward the Israeli government for its "campaign of genocidal violence", a former ambassador to Israel has warned, as Australia considers its next diplomatic moves. Australia has begun co-ordinating with other nations on the issue as France, Canada and the UK prepare to recognise the state of Palestine at a United Nations meeting in September amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Though the federal government has said recognition is a matter of "when, not if", it has been hesitant to commit to a deadline and the coalition has raised concerns such an action could be seen as a reward for designated terrorist organisation Hamas. But Australia's former ambassador to Israel Peter Rodgers dismissed such arguments as "nonsensical", noting there were "nasty people" on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. "Not recognising a Palestinian state rewards Israel," he told ABC radio on Thursday. "It rewards the government of Benjamin Netanyahu for ethnic cleansing and apartheid in the West Bank. "We need to be very careful of pointing the finger in one direction and forgetting what's going on, on the other side." A genocide case has been brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which is yet to rule on the matter, but Mr Netanyahu's office called the allegations "false and outrageous" and his government has repeatedly claimed it only targets Hamas and not civilians. More than 50,000 children have been killed or injured by Israel since October 2023, UNICEF said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the recognition of Palestine would need to guarantee Hamas played no role in the future nation, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong has repeatedly emphasised the Palestinian Authority has condemned and sought to distance themselves from the terrorist group. Hamas has effectively governed Gaza since violently defeating the political party Fatah, which now controls the Palestinian Authority that exercises partial civil control in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority is currently "pretty useless", Mr Rodgers said, but recognition could provide an avenue for change. "There is an opportunity to work with other Palestinians, to work towards reforming the Palestinian Authority ... giving it meaningful power," he said. Mr Albanese spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, when he reiterated Australia's commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East that would allow Palestine and Israel to co-exist, before discussing the two-state solution with French President Emmanuel Macron. "The entire international community is distressed by what we're seeing happening in Gaza," he told reporters in Melbourne. "We want to see commitments from the Palestinian Authority - commitments of their governance (and) reforms." More than two million people in Gaza are now facing high levels of food insecurity, United Nations sources have found. Israel denies there is starvation in the besieged strip despite international human rights groups decrying its offensive in Gaza and attributing deaths to starvation. Mr Rodgers was one of many former Australian diplomats who signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which is being circulated on social media, calling on Australia to urgently recognise a state of Palestine. More than 140 of the 193 UN member states already recognise the state of Palestine, including European Union member states Spain and Ireland. Violence in Gaza reignited after Hamas killed 1200 people in Israel and took about 250 hostages on October 7, 2023. Israel's military response has since killed 60,000 people, according to local health authorities. Opposition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie has taken issue with pro-Palestine protests. Tens of thousands of Australians took part in pro-Palestine protests over the weekend, including at least 90,000 who rallied at the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and both Students for Palestine and the National Union of Students have called for students to walk out of class on Thursday as part of a demonstration. Opposition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie has taken issue with domestic protests. "This is Australia. Not the Middle East," he said in an interview with Sky News posted on his social media.
West Australian
3 hours ago
- West Australian
Australian news and politics live: Treasurer Chalmers backs new stock exchange as ASX faces fresh competition
Scroll down for the latest news and updates. The White House announced Wednesday that it is imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on India, bringing the total levies against the major United States trading partner to 50 per cent. 'I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,' President Donald Trump said in an executive order. 'Accordingly, and as consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent,' the executive order reads. The new tariffs are set to go into effect in 21 days, according to the order, while the previously announced 25 per cent tariffs are set to take effect on Thursday. Read the full story. A helicopter crash in Ghana, has killed eight people including the West African nation's defence and environment ministers, the government says. The military says the helicopter took off on Wednesday morning from the capital, Accra, toward Obuasi, a gold-mining area in the Ashanti region, but went off the radar. The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were killed alongside the vice-chair of the National Democratic Congress ruling party, a top national security adviser and crew members. Ghana's government described the crash as a 'national tragedy'. Read the full story. A man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum has been indicted on federal hate crimes charges. The indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, charges Elias Rodriguez with nine counts, including a hate crime resulting in death. The indictment also includes notice of special findings, which would allow the Justice Department to potentially pursue the death penalty. It accuses him of carrying out a hate crime resulting in death motivated by the 'actual and perceived national origin of any person'. Rodriguez also faces charges of first-degree murder and murder of a foreign official. Elias Rodriguez, 31, is accused of gunning down Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, as they left an event at the museum in May. Read more. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has urged caution regarding Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan's plan to enshrine the right to work from home into law, advising that the government should 'get their constitutional advice spot on' before proceeding further. The proposal has drawn criticism from legal experts and academics, who argue it presents significant constitutional challenges and would be difficult to enforce. Meanwhile, business groups warn the law could encourage companies to relocate to other states. This debate follows the federal Coalition's unsuccessful attempt to limit remote working during the recent election campaign, a move that was abandoned amid widespread public opposition. Though Mr Bragg conceded the Coalition's handling of remote work issues had been 'not well handled,' he stressed the importance of ensuring any legislation is legally sound. 'My view is that work from home is very good, I do it myself and it should be facilitated,' Mr Bragg told ABC Radio National. 'The Victorian government needs to get their right constitutional advice in order, and they need to make sure that whatever they're proposing to legislate, that would actually work … we're very happy to facilitate it, but that's really a matter for the Victorians and their constitutional advice.' Australia's $3 trillion stock exchange looks set for a new competitor as the corporate watchdog readies to approve a bid by Cboe to expand operations Down Under. Cboe Global Markets — which owns the Chicago Board Options Exchange — wants to launch a new platform for local companies to list their shares in direct competition with the Australian Securities Exchange. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed on Wednesday that it was in the final stages of considering the plan, which would give businesses a new place to raise cash. Treasurer Jim Chalmers talked up the benefits of the plan after talks with regulators and big investors on Wednesday. 'Making our markets more competitive will make our economy more prosperous and productive,' he said. Read the full story. Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has urged the introduction of new regulations to protect songwriters and creative artists from the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. This follows an interim report by the Productivity Commission which suggested that current Australian copyright laws may act as a 'barrier to building and training AI models.' The report claimed that existing regulations 'does not adequately facilitate the use of copyrighted works,' drawing criticism from arts bodies who are concerned this will take away the last existing protections artists have. 'I have concerns about artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity, and rather than adopting it, holus bolus and rolling it out en masse across our country, we do need to understand the risks,' Ms McKenzie told Nine on Thursday morning. 'Particularly to our songwriters, our creative artists, to make sure that they're not bearing the cost. We need to protect our artists, and that means putting some regulation in place,' she said.
Sky News AU
4 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Prime Minster Anthony Albanese's Palestine call with French President Emmanuel Macron branded 'performative politics'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused of "performative politics" over a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Mr Albanese spoke with the French leader following a huge protest in Sydney, which saw about 90,000 people march across the Harbour Bridge in support of Palestine. The French President is set to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September and will be joined in the gesture by United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Commenting on the call, The Australian's Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan said the Albanese government was demonstrating "really low-grade stuff" in relation to Palestine and the Middle East conflict. "They are not making any contribution to the Middle East at all. This is all about gesture and performative politics for their base in Australia and for managing the politics of the left in Australia," he told Sky News host Steve Price. "To recognise a Palestinian state without substantial negotiation with Israel, to recognise the Palestinian state as a direct result of the barbaric, unbelievable, epoch-marking, savage terrorism of October 7, is just futile and counterproductive. "It's a great reward for Hamas." Sheridan said he had been "quite critical" about Israel's conduct in Gaza in recent months, describing it as "futile" and having cost a "great deal internationally", but continued his rebuke of Mr Albanese for making "no useful contribution" to solving the humanitarian crisis. The journalist, though, said Mr Albanese had a "spasm of common sense" several weeks ago when he assigned conditions to any recognition of Palestine. "If those conditions are met, that's great, but if those conditions are not met the Albanese government says it's still going to recognise a Palestinian state anyway, because it says it is 'when, not if,'and its obviously doing it in concert with these other nations," Sheridan said, referring to remarks from Treasurer Jim Chlamers last week. "Now those conditions won't be met. The terrorist groups will still be attacking Israel, there won't an eradication of Hamas and all the rest of it. There won't be democratic reform... you can just bank on that. "This is all about gesture politics and the management of the left in Marrickville and Glebe and Richmond and what have you. It's got nothing at all to do with making any positive contribution in the Middle East and it is morally vacuous." Mr Chalmers' remarks came after Canada joined France and the UK in declaring their intention to recognise a Palestinian state, provided key conditions are met, including the exclusion of Hamas from any future leadership and the release of Israeli hostages. Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed Canada would proceed with recognition by September, conditional on agreements from the West Bank's governing authority. Mr Chalmers welcomed the international developments and said the Albanese government was in ongoing talks with global counterparts to chart Australia's next steps. 'The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will respond in due course, but I welcome this momentum and this progress in the international community,' Mr Chalmers told Sky News. 'From an Australian point of view the recognition of the state of Palestine is a matter of when not if."
