Israel is reportedly planning a total but temporary occupation of Gaza City, focusing on its one million residents. Despite opposition from military leaders and ministers, Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to push the plan through. The strategy involves evacuating residents and expanding humanitarian aid, amid international criticism over restricted aid access. The plan has sparked intense debate within Israel, with concerns over the safety of designated zones and the fate of hostages held by Hamas.
Israel's Controversial Plan: Total Occupation of Gaza for Five Months
Israel's Controversial Plan: Total Occupation of Gaza for Five Months
The new war plan for the Gaza Strip, which Israel is expected to approve, initially focuses on Gaza City and its approximately one million residents. The idea is a total but temporary occupation, lasting four to five months, according to Israeli media.
Both military leadership and several ministers oppose such a resource-intensive and potentially bloody expansion of the war in the Palestinian area. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to push the plans through in a cabinet meeting starting at 5 PM Swedish time.
According to leaks to Israeli media, the plan involves expanding the military presence to a total occupation of the strip. The first focus is to take control of Gaza City, which, despite significant destruction from many Israeli airstrikes, is believed to house a million people, writes The Times of Israel.
Phase one will involve orders for evacuation to all those people in the city, while Israeli authorities build healthcare facilities and other infrastructure in the central Gaza Strip, reports Israel's public media company Kan.
Once this is completed, a new military offensive will begin in phase two, during which the heavily criticized humanitarian efforts will be significantly expanded to reach more of the Gaza Strip's two million residents.
Aid Distribution to be Expanded
On the humanitarian front, Israeli authorities have faced harsh criticism worldwide for severely restricting aid entry, leaving many of the Gaza Strip's residents with barely any food and drinking water. Aid deliveries of medical supplies and medicines are also reported to be reduced to virtually zero.
Even the aid distribution that occurs has become very controversial, as Israeli soldiers open fire on those seeking help, resulting in several fatalities each day.
Distribution is carried out via GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation), a new American-Israeli initiative with unclear funding and few distribution points. However, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee tells Bloomberg News that the number of locations will soon be increased from four to 16.
Chaotic Zones
The plans are, however, full of question marks and are the subject of heated debate even in Israel. The safe zones designated by Israel, primarily al-Mawasi in the south, are already chaotic and full of hundreds of thousands of evacuated residents' tent homes – the question is how they can accommodate even more desperate refugees.
Many Israelis also see this as Netanyahu abandoning the hostages held by the extremist Islamist Hamas since the movement's major attack that started the war in October 2023. Only about 20 hostages are believed to still be alive. Relatives' movements demand that the Israeli government focus on a peace agreement that involves the release of hostages rather than new military actions.