Israel plans to retake Gaza City, escalating the war with Hamas and fueling worries for hostages

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

JERUSALEM — Israel said Friday it plans to take over Gaza City — an escalation of its 22-month war with Hamas that drew a dismissal from the group, renewed international calls to end the conflict, and stirred fears for hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel's air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, displaced most of the population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. The timing of another major ground operation remains unclear since it will likely hinge on mobilizing thousands of troops and forcibly evacuating civilians, almost certainly exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier outlined more sweeping plans in an interview with Fox News, saying Israel planned to take control of all of Gaza. Israel already controls around three-quarters of the territory.
Hamas rejected Israel's current plans in a statement and said people in Gaza would 'remain defiant against occupation.'
'Expanding of aggression against our Palestinian people will not be a walk in the park,' the group said.
An expanded offensive could widen discord between Israel and international powers, which have intensified criticism of the war amid reports of famine in Gaza but largely stopped short of concrete action. Australia and the United Kingdom urged Israel to reconsider.
Israel's 'decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong,' British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. 'It will only bring more bloodshed. … Both parties must step away from the path of destruction.'
Tensions could rise further if Netanyahu follows through on the more sweeping plans to take control of the entire territory.
Israel's current plan, announced after the Security Cabinet met through Thursday night, stopped short of that, and may be aimed in part at pressuring Hamas to accept a ceasefire on Israel's terms.
It may also reflect the reservations of Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who reportedly warned that expanding operations would endanger the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel's army after nearly two years of regional wars.
The military '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 after the meeting.
Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and carried out numerous raids there, only to return to neighborhoods again and again as militants regrouped. Today, it is one of the few areas in Gaza that hasn't been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders.
A major ground operation there could displace tens of thousands of people and further disrupt efforts to deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory.
It's unclear how many people reside in the city, which was Gaza's largest before the war. Hundreds of thousands fled under evacuation orders in the opening weeks of the war, but many returned during a ceasefire at the start of this year.
Palestinians were already anticipating even more suffering ahead of the decision, and at least 42 were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings on Thursday, according to local hospitals.
'There is nothing left to occupy,' said Maysaa al-Heila, who is living in a displacement camp. 'There is no Gaza left.'
Of those killed Thursday, Nasser Hospital said at least 13 were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where U.N. aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by hungry crowds and people stealing food to resell it. Another two were killed on roads leading to nearby sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor, according to the hospital, which received the bodies.
GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites on Thursday. Israel's military said its forces did not fire in the morning and that it knew of no encounters in the area. The military zone, known as the Morag Corridor, is off limits to independent media.
Israel's military offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals.
The United Nations and independent experts view the ministry's figures as the most reliable estimate of casualties. Israel has disputed them without offering a toll of its own.
Asked in the interview with Fox News ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting if Israel would 'take control of all of Gaza,' Netanyahu replied: 'We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there.'
'We don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,' Netanyahu said in the interview. 'We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.'
Hamas-led fighters triggered the war when they stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 people. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals but 50 remain inside Gaza. Israel believes around 20 of them to be alive.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Friday that the Cabinet's plan would endanger them and would not advance Israel toward its objectives.
'‏This is exactly what Hamas wanted: for Israel to be mired on the ground with no purpose, without defining the day‑after picture, in a pointless occupation that no one understands where it is leading,' he said in a statement on X.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera on Thursday that the group would view Netanyahu's proposal of an Arab-led force in post-war Gaza as linked to Israel. He warned it could further 'plunge the region into new trouble.'