Middle East correspondent
Getty ImagesIsrael’s security cabinet has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, in a controversial escalation of its war in Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in the city in the north of the Gaza Strip. It was the enclave’s most populous city before the war.
The plan faces fierce opposition within Israel – including from military officials and hostages’ families – and from the international community.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told Fox News earlier that Israel planned to occupy the entire Gaza Strip and eventually “hand it over to Arab forces”. Much is still very unclear, but here’s what we know about the new plan.
What are the details of the plan?
The plan – or the “five principles for ending the war” includes:
- The disarmament of Hamas
- The return of all hostages, both living and dead
- The demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip
- Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip
- The establishment of an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
The IDF said the military would prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the “civilian population outside the combat zones”.
It is unclear if this is new aid, and if it will be delivered by the controversial Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation or another mechanism.
Why is just Gaza City being taken over?
Before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said he wanted Israel to control all of Gaza.
In the new plan, only Gaza City is mentioned.
Israel has said it currently controls 75% of Gaza, while the UN estimates some 86% of the territory is either in militarised zones or under evacuation orders.
The plan aims to have Israeli forces move to take control of the largest city in the enclave for the first time during this conflict.
It is home to one million residents and is surrounded by land that has already been under the IDF’s control or subject to an evacuation order.
Control over the city is likely to be the first phase of a full scale takeover of the Gaza Strip, our Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega has said.
There has also been some speculation that the threat of full occupation could be part of a strategy to put pressure on Hamas to make concessions in stalled talks.
Netanyahu told Fox News Israel does ” not want to keep it” and intends to hand it over to “Arab forces”.
“We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it,” he told the outlet.
When will Israel take over Gaza City?
Israel has not said when the takeover will begin but reports in Israeli media suggest the military will not move into Gaza City immediately – and residents will need to be evacuated first.
Israel said it believed that the “alternative plan” presented to its cabinet would not “achieve the defeat of Hamas or the return of the abductees”.
However it it not clear what the alternative plan was or who had submitted it. Israeli media reports it was a more limited proposal from the army’s chief of staff.
Netanyahu is being “intentionally vague” over who the Arab forces he names may be, according to the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, as he has been in the past with his plans for Gaza.
He may be referring to the Jordanians and the Egyptians, who have said they are willing to work with Israel – but they have made it clear that they will not go into Gaza on the back of an Israeli occupation.
No more details have been shared regarding a timeline for Gaza’s post-takeover government, and Hamas not yet responded to the plan.
What has the reaction been?
Netanyahu is facing mounting criticism from hostage families and from world leaders.
For some time now, Israel’s military leadership has been saying that their job in Gaza is done as Hamas no longer poses a threat as an organised military force.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called Israel’s escalation “wrong” and that it “will only bring more bloodshed”.
Israel’s decision to expand military operations in Gaza is a “declaration of a war crime”, Palestinian National Initiative President Mustafa Barghouti said.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said Israel aims to “forcibly displace Palestinians from their own land”, while Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said she hopes for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and immediate release of Israeli hostages.
Australia has also urged restraint, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong saying a Gaza City takeover “will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”.
The UN’s human rights chief Volker Türk says “the war in Gaza must end now” and warns that further escalation “will result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction and atrocity crimes”.
The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said the decision “is leading us toward a colossal catastrophe for both the hostages and our soldiers”.
There have been some reports that the Americans had given Netanyahu the go-ahead to take over Gaza City.
But it is worth noting that NBC News reported a fiery phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu at the end of July – something the president called “fake news”.
Additional reporting from Ruth Comerford.
