Israeli cabinet meeting postponed as tensions rise over Netanyahu's occupation plan

The Guardian

a day ago

An Israeli security cabinet meeting, which had been expected to discuss Benjamin Netanyahu's call for the 'full occupation' of Gaza, has been postponed amid mounting tensions over whether the plan is feasible.
Amid a stalling of ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, Israeli officials had briefed local and international media that the prime minister was considering an expansive offensive, aimed at taking full control of the Palestinian territory after 22 months of war against the militant group Hamas.
However, senior Israeli military officers and former senior commanders warned the plan would endanger the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas, risk further international isolation of Israel and require Israeli soldiers to administer a population in which Hamas fighters were still present.
Any move towards full occupation is likely to be strongly resisted by large parts of the international community, already horrified by the conduct of Israel's military campaign.
Israel's scorched-earth campaign has already obliterated large parts of Gaza, killing more than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, forcing nearly all of Gaza's more than 2 million people from their homes and causing what a global hunger monitor last week called an unfolding famine.
That has caused widespread international anger and prompted several European countries to say they would recognise a Palestinian state next month if there was no ceasefire, amid mounting calls for sanctions against Israel.
The disquiet follows briefings to Israeli journalists on Monday saying that Netanyahu had decided the expanded offensive was a foregone conclusion.
'The die has been cast. We're going for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip – and defeating Hamas,' the unnamed sources said, quoting Netanyahu.
By Tuesday, however, evidence had emerged of deep splits between Netanyahu and senior military officials, including the chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, who reportedly voiced opposition to the plan, prompting calls for his dismissal.
Military analysts in the Israeli media, channelling some defence officials, were also sceptical. Writing in Yedioth Ahronoth, the military affairs commentator Yossi Yehoshua described the risks of the proposal. 'Hostages … will die, large numbers of IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers will be killed as well as a serious logistical problem – where to house the roughly 1 million civilians who are now in Gaza City.
'Currently, Israel simply doesn't have legitimacy either to continue to fight in Gaza or to establish a city of refugees on its ruins.'
Israeli officials have said Netanyahu discussed a plan with the White House as it attempted to portray Hamas as having walked away from ceasefire negotiations, a claim denied by Hamas, which blamed Israel for the protracted impasse.
While the Trump administration has not commented on the Netanyahu proposal, it has been given some credence by leaked comments made by the US envoy Steve Witkoff to Israeli hostage families at the weekend, suggesting his proposal for a ceasefire in exchange for the release of half of the remaining living hostages had failed.
Witkoff added that Donald Trump 'now believes that everybody should come home at once. No piecemeal deals,' adding they were now pursuing an 'all or nothing' plan.
At the centre of the Netanyahu plan is the notion that, by surrounding areas where hostages are believed to be held, Israeli forces can raid those areas and rescue the captives, a policy that has broadly failed during the past two years of war.
Amid questions over the practicality of a wider offensive, some have speculated that Netanyahu's call may be more rhetorical than real in substance, aimed at keeping onboard far-right ministers who have demanded they be allowed to build settlements in Gaza.
A Palestinian official close to the talks and mediation said Israeli threats could be a way to pressure Hamas to make concessions at the negotiation table.
'It will only complicate the negotiation further, at the end, the resistance factions will not accept less than an end to the war, and a full withdrawal from Gaza,' the official told Reuters, requesting not to be named.
Practically, too, it is unclear whether Israel has the capacity for the kind of expanded operation described.
The IDF has struggled with manpower issues as the war drags on, with reservists being repeatedly called up amid concerns over a mental health crisis that has included a number of suicides.
On Tuesday, during a visit to Gaza, Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, suggested a less comprehensive long-term Israeli occupation, saying that Israel would maintain a permanent IDF presence in a 'security buffer zone' in strategic areas of Gaza to prevent future attacks on Israeli communities and arms smuggling into the strip.
'This is the main lesson of October 7,' said Katz. 'As in other sectors, here too the IDF must stand between the enemy and our communities – not only to fight the enemy, but to separate it from our civilians.'
Inside Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians, local health authorities said, including five people in a tent in Khan Younis and three aid seekers near Rafah in the south.
Israeli tanks pushed into central Gaza earlier on Tuesday, but it was not clear if the move was part of a larger ground offensive.
Agencies contributed to this article