Latest news with #IsraelSecurityCabinet
Al Jazeera
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘I will never leave': Palestinians spurn Israel's plan to occupy Gaza City
Palestinians in Gaza City are facing the prospect of further displacement with a mixture of fear and defiance after Israel announced plans for a military takeover of the largest city in the enclave, where nearly a million people are currently sheltering. The city was thrown into chaos on Friday after Israel's security cabinet approved plans for the takeover, which would involve the forcible removal of Palestinians already displaced multiple times into concentration zones in the south. 'I swear to God that I have faced death like 100 times, so for me, it's better to die here,' said Ahmed Hirz, who has been displaced along with his family at least eight times since Israel's war began. 'I will never leave here,' he told Al Jazeera. 'We have gone through suffering and starvation and torture and miserable conditions, and our final decision is to die here.' That sentiment was shared by others who spoke to Al Jazeera. Rajab Khader said he would refuse to move to southern Gaza, to 'stay in the streets with dogs and other animals'. 'We must stay in Gaza [City] with our families and loved ones. The Israelis will find nothing except our bodies and our souls,' he said. Maghzouza Saada, who was previously displaced from northeastern Beit Hanoon, expressed her outrage over being forced to move again, when nowhere in the Strip could be considered safe. 'The south is not safe. Gaza City is not safe, the north is not safe. Where should we go?' she asked. 'Do we throw ourselves in the sea?' 'State of panic' Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud said residents had been in a 'state of panic' since the early hours of Friday over Israel's plans to ethnically cleanse the area. He said that some had started to pack up whatever is left of their belongings. 'Not because they know where they are going, but because they don't want to be caught at the [last] moment. They want to be ready for the time the Israeli military is forcing them out,' said Mahmoud. 'The fear, the concern, the desperation are all on the rise. The Israeli military promises an evacuation zone where people, in fact, end up being killed in these areas,' he added. Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, said residents were tired of being forcibly and repeatedly displaced. This time, he said, the prospect of evacuation posed even greater dangers, with hospitals, water facilities and other infrastructure destroyed. 'Now, there is nothing to give to the people, and it's risky,' he said. 'We have to move elders who cannot walk, and we have patients and injured people who cannot move. We cannot leave them behind, and we cannot give them services.' Some 900,000 Palestinians at risk As news of Israel's controversial escalation sunk in, the military continued its attacks on the vulnerable population, killing at least 36 people since dawn – including at least 21 who were seeking aid – according to medical sources. Among the day's attacks, an Israeli drone targeted Gaza's southern municipality of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis city, killing two Palestinians, according to a source from Nasser Hospital who spoke to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Arabic reported that one aid seeker was shot dead by Israeli forces in northern Gaza. And at least two people were killed at an aid distribution site run by the controversial United States and Israel-backed GHF, which is slated for expansion under Israel's new offensive. Reporting from Jordan's capital, Amman, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid said that the notorious foundation, which currently runs four aid sites where over 1,300 Palestinians have been killed while trying to get food, mainly by Israeli forces, would be operating 12 more hubs in the enclave. Abdel-Hamid said that Israel had not given an 'exact timeline' for taking control of Gaza City, but that a ground offensive was in the offing, with 'troop movement along Israel's southern border with Gaza'. Forcibly removing up to 900,000 Palestinians from the city could, she said, take weeks. In the longer term, military experts have said Israel's plans – which would see it assume security control over the enclave, establishing an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority – could take years. 'War crime' Amid mounting global condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union and a number of countries, it was unclear what Israel's chief military backer, the US, made of the plans. US Vice President JD Vance declined to comment on whether his administration had been given prior notification about Israel's Gaza City plans, but continued to withhold support for a Palestinian state and underlined that 'Hamas can't attack innocent people'. Experts say Israel would not be able to move forward with its plan to take total military control of Gaza without billions of dollars in backing from Washington. And few have forgotten President Donald Trump's stated desire to 'clean up' Gaza and turn the enclave into the 'Riviera of the Middle East'. On Friday, Hamas called Israel's plans for Gaza City a 'war crime', saying that the decision explained why the country had suddenly withdrawn from the last round of ceasefire negotiations. In a separate statement on Telegram, it said Palestinians would 'resist any occupation or aggressive force', slamming the US for providing cover for Israel, and accusing the international community of complicity in crimes against the Palestinian people. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Saturday to discuss Israel's escalation.
Washington Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
6 key moments in Israel's military campaign in Gaza against Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to occupy Gaza City, approved by Israel's security cabinet and announced early Friday, is a fundamental shift in the 22-month war between Israel and Hamas. Hamas-led fighters killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 others back to Gaza as hostages in their surprise attack of Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed many of the militant group's top leaders.
Fox News
a day ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Israel approves plan to occupy Gaza City through military force
Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot provides details on the Israel security cabinet's all-night meeting that yielded an approved plan to take control of Gaza through military force. Fox News contributor Hugh Hewitt weighs in.
The National
a day ago
- Politics
- The National
Conquest and exile: What Gaza city fears is coming
In the streets of Gaza city, there is anger and exhaustion at what many Palestinians see as an unfolding Israeli plan to force them south – and eventually out of Gaza altogether. Israel's security cabinet approved new war plans on Friday to capture Gaza city, as a step towards retaking control of the strip. But residents are unsure whether to flee the coming advance, amid fears an exodus is exactly what Israel wants. Al Badri Mohammed, a lifelong resident of the city, lost his home in the early months of the Israel-Gaza war. He now lives in a small rented apartment, a temporary refuge in a city where nothing feels secure any more amid Israeli bombardment. The talk of a new mass displacement fills him with dread. 'Two years of suffering make you lose hope that anything could be better,' he told The National, his voice heavy with fatigue. 'Before, when we fled from Gaza city to the south, at least we stayed in a house. But now, where should we stay? In tents?' For him, the idea of moving again is unthinkable. 'I will never flee south again,' he insists. 'We can't make any more steps. We will wait until the end, as long as nothing changes on the ground.' The fears of Gaza city residents are echoed by analysts and activists, who warn that the displacement of civilians is not just a by-product of Israel's war, but part of a deliberate strategy. One Israeli source told The National on Thursday that the plan was to push half of Gaza's population south as part of the campaign. Tallal Abu Rokba, a political analyst, said differences of opinion between Israel's political and military leaders were of no consequence. 'The outcome remains the same – reoccupation, control, or transferring the population from the north to the south, especially from Gaza city where one million people live,' he said. He said diplomacy by other countries had failed to halt the course of events. 'When US envoy Steve Witkoff came to Israel, it wasn't to make a deal between Israel and Hamas. It was to push for a decisive resolution in Gaza,' he said. 'The continuation of genocide and starvation has damaged Israel's reputation, but instead of reversing course, Israel is taking 'dramatic steps' – the reoccupation of Gaza and the creation of new realities that will shape future negotiations.' According to Dr Abu Rokba, Israel has already reshaped Gaza geographically, destroying neighbourhoods, creating buffer zones and blocking access to more than 70 per cent of its land. Now, he says, comes the next phase: demographic change, forcing Palestinians to leave through unbearable living conditions. Salah Abdul Ati, head of the International Commission to Support Palestinian People's Rights, calls this part of a long-standing strategy to entirely erase the Palestinian cause. Some Israeli ministers have openly speculated about relocating Gazans to other countries. 'Since the start of its aggression on Gaza, Israel has hidden its ultimate goal: to occupy, depopulate, and annex Gaza,' Mr Abdul Ati told The National. 'This plan is not tactical, it is strategic. It will begin in Gaza city, displacing more than one million people in catastrophic conditions.' He warns that the scenario seen in southern Rafah could be repeated: residents pushed into ever-smaller areas, moved from Gaza city to central camps, from there to Khan Younis, and finally into detention zones along the Salah Al Din and Morag corridors, before being expelled abroad, if any country will take them. 'These are the dreams of the Israeli right, which sees this moment as the ideal and strongest opportunity to restore Israel's 'normal' position of control.' Mr Abu Rokba said.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Israel Plans to Seize Military Control of Gaza City
Good morning. Israel plans to take full control of Gaza City. Elon Musk pulls the plug on a Tesla project. And an artist combines Porsches with centuries-old stained glass. Listen to the day's top stories. Israel's security cabinet approved Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to take full control of Gaza City, as part of a final push to topple Hamas and end 22 months of fighting. Shortly after the decision, the rumble of ordnance could be heard from Gaza every minute or so from a distance of about 50 kilometers away.
