Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has insisted his country had “no choice” but to approve a plan to attack Gaza City in order to topple Hamas’s remaining stronghold.
“Our goal is not to occupy Gaza but to liberate it from Hamas,” he told a news conference on Sunday night.
He also outlined the creation of a new governing body for the enclave.
“We will work to establish a civilian authority that is not affiliated with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority,” he said.
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Mr Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel is “approaching the end of the campaign” against those who sought to destroy it.
“We are working to defeat the remnants of the Iranian axis and to free all our hostages,” he said.
The plan to attack Gaza City will entail the forced transfer of more than 800,000 Palestinian civilians, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times over the past 22 months of fighting.
The Israeli attack on Gaza City is planned to start on October 7th, leaving almost two months for the army to mobilise the required forces for the operation.
The army has been authorised to call up more than 400,000 reservists, but it is not clear exactly how many extra soldiers will be required.
The military says civilians will be moved to the Muwasi humanitarian zone over the next six weeks and, in parallel, Israel says it plans to significantly increase aid deliveries. It says daily lorry convoys carrying humanitarian aid will increase from 300 to 1,200, with intensified aerial drops and the setting up of additional distribution centres.
Some commentators believe the plan to attack Gaza City is designed to exert pressure on Hamas to resume negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage-release deal. A Hamas delegation reportedly arrived in Cairo on Monday as efforts by international mediators to break the deadlock continue.
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Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said he no longer believes Mr Netanyahu is willing to do what it takes to win the war in Gaza, calling the security cabinet’s approval of a plan to conquer Gaza City a “half-measure”.
More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The war was triggered when 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage into Gaza during a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, according to Israeli tallies.
Families of the hostages have declared a one-day general strike for Sunday, the first day of Israel’s working week, as part of their campaign for a ceasefire aimed at bringing back all 50 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. However, the Histadrut trade union federation announced on Monday that it would not order its members to join the strike.
After talks with business leaders and relatives of hostages, Histadrut leader Arnon Bar-David argued that joining the strike would politicise the question of the hostages.
“If I knew that a strike – not just for one day but longer – would end the matter, stop the war and bring back the hostages, I would go for it with full force,” he said. “Unfortunately, and although my heart is bursting with anger, it has no practical outcome.”
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He did, however, promise to encourage employers to allow workers to attend protests and rallies without risking their employment rights.
Israeli police on Monday, meanwhile, arrested a 27-year-old Jerusalem man suspected of spray-painting anti-war slogans, including “there’s a holocaust in Gaza”, on a section of the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s old city and at the city’s main synagogue. The action was condemned by politicians from across the political spectrum.
