According to a new plan announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinians would have to relocate to the south as part of a "forceful entry" into the territory.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his nation is "on the eve of a forceful entry to Gaza" after his security cabinet approved a new plan that calls for tens of thousands more troops to take control of the beleaguered enclave, hold it, and drive Palestinians south.
Mr. Netanyahu said that the nation's senior military leaders had suggested what he called an "intensive" escalation of the 18-month conflict in a video that was shared on social media as military reservists around Israel started getting notices of their call-up.
Mr. Netanyahu claimed that military officers informed him that it was time to begin the last steps, and that the current effort would aid in the return of the hostages who were still being held in Gaza. According to the prime minister, Wee are not done." We are ahead of schedule.
The escalation came after Israel blocked and bombarded the Gaza Strip for more than two months while cease-fire negotiations to free the remaining hostages came to a halt. Supplies organizations have condemned the growing suffering among Palestinians in Gaza as a result of Israel's ban on all humanitarian supplies, which is intended to pressure Hamas into surrendering.
The enlarged military assault was swiftly denounced by Mr. Netanyahu's opponents, who claimed it would jeopardize the lives of the remaining captives and would not significantly alter the dynamic that the 18 months of war had created. Both domestic and foreign critics of the prime minister have encouraged him to terminate the conflict, which started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel and seized approximately 250 hostages.
Israeli authorities stated that the offensive would begin gradually in preparation for cease-fire talks in advance of President Trump's visit to the area next week for meetings in multiple Arab capitals. However, the authorities warned that the extended ground operation would start in earnest if a settlement was not made quickly.
In the video, Mr. Netanyahu pledged that Israel had not given up on freeing the other hostages because of the decision to intensify the fighting in Gaza.
He pledged, "We will not give up on anyone."
The initiative, according to government spokesman David Mencer, is a fresh attempt to put further pressure on Hamas to free the captives and demolish all of the organization's underground and aboveground infrastructure. According to him, the strategy calls for Israeli troops to "hold territories" for an endless amount of time "to prevent Hamas from taking it back."
The goal, according to Mr. Mencer, was not to occupy Gaza permanently, which would almost likely provoke international protests, nor to forcibly uproot Palestinians from their homes in the north.
Israel's operation will involve "a wide attack, involving moving most of Gaza's population," Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said in a televised statement. This is to keep them safe in a Hamas-free area.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes did not explicitly address the Israeli announcement while at the White House. Still, he stated that Mr. Trump "remains committed to securing the immediate release of hostages and an end to Hamas rule in Gaza." "Hamas is solely responsible for this conflict and the resumption of hostilities," he continued.
However, it was unclear how much of the declaration was intended simply as Mr. Netanyahu's public show of might following the collapse of a cease-fire in March. Some of Mr. Netanyahu's hard-line followers were disappointed that the military had not yet succeeded in eliminating Hamas, and they interpret the Israeli call-up of troops as a message to them. It might be smart domestic politics for him to promise a more intense phase of the battle.
Additionally, it is unclear how adding more fighters would significantly change the situation that has been played out throughout the 18-month conflict, in which hundreds of thousands of soldiers have hammered Hamas fighters, trapping Gaza residents in the process, but Israel has not been able to accomplish its objectives of eliminating the militant organization or freeing all hostages.
Mr. Mencer stated that Israel would relocate "the Gaza population south for its own defense" as part of its invasion. Israel's earlier tactics during the conflict, such as ordering a large evacuation of northern Gaza before its ground invasion in late 2023, were mirrored in the plan.
The understanding was that the Israeli military would move to capture more territory beyond what it was already holding, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational planning. However, the official cautioned that it was unclear whether Israel had plans to occupy all of Gaza at this time.
According to him, the cabinet also adopted a new system supported by Israel that permits the distribution of humanitarian aid. Doctors believe the impact of Israel's decision to restrict all humanitarian aid, including food, medication, and fuel, more than two months ago has been "catastrophic." Israel has maintained that there are still enough supplies in Gaza and that the assistance blockade is legal.
Call-up orders began in June, according to two reservists who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to comment to the news media.
Israel's energy minister and security cabinet member, Eli Cohen, stated that the reservists were called up to carry out a strategy that would guarantee Hamas would never strike Israel again.
He stated that "the cabinet unanimously decided to expand the operation in Gaza and move now toward defeating Hamas," adding that "the destruction of the terrorist organization Hamas is not only an Israeli interest but also an interest of the entire free world."
The question is whether a resumption to that level of combat is a sign that the war is coming to an end or if it is only exacerbating the situation for Palestinians and the Israeli captives that Hamas is still holding.
After more than a year and a half of fighting, Tamir Hayman, the former head of intelligence for the Israeli military for four years, claimed that efforts to apply overwhelming force to pressure Hamas had been "exhausted."
According to Mr. Hayman, who is currently the executive director of the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank in Tel Aviv, "it is very difficult to eliminate Hamas as a terror organization by military force alone." He claimed that since Hamas has been greatly weakened and can be controlled once the battle is over, Israel would be better off concluding the conflict with them.
The deployment of the reservists has not been disclosed by the Israeli military. However, according to two Israeli officials who spoke on condition of anonymity while discussing military planning, it will involve multiple brigades vying for alleged operational superiority in various regions of Gaza.
While Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm, which the group has refused to do, Hamas has called for an end to the war and the evacuation of Israeli soldiers from Gaza, while the Trump administration has sought a new cease-fire.
According to Israeli authorities, Hamas was under pressure to negotiate a cease-fire in January and free some of the hostages because of the strength and ferocity of their military operation in Gaza last year.
Mr. Netanyahu directed the mobilization of 360,000 reservists, bringing the total number of soldiers in the nation's standing military to almost 170,000, just hours after the October 2023 attacks.
The Gaza health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and military deaths, reports that over 50,000 Palestinians have perished in the conflict since. The Israeli military has recovered the remains of at least 40 hostages and freed about 130 others. The Israeli government estimates that about 24 captives are still alive.
According to 38-year-old Awad Abid, who lives in the northern Gaza Strip enclave of JabalStrip enclaveeli pronouncements have further depressed the Palestinians living there. He claimed that "hunger had entered every house" as a result of the months-long humanitarian blockade.
"No one in Gaza has any more life left," Mr. Abid declared, adding that the Israeli hostages must be freed right away to put an end to the fighting.
Mr. Netanyahu stated that praise should be given to the "painful blows that our heroic fighters have landed on Hamas" when Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a cease-fire in January.
During a national address, he stated, "This is precisely how the conditions were created for the turning point in its position and for the release of our hostages."
However, certain voices, such as Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid, have voiced serious concerns about the plan. Mr. Lapid stated on Israeli Army Radio, "I fear that the fate of the hostages will be determined by the intensity of the fighting." "What is the objective? Why are reservists being called up? Regular duty without a clear objective is not a strategy for winning a war.
The group that advocates for captive families urged the authorities to refrain from expanding the conflict in a statement released on Monday.
According to the families, "the expansion of military operations puts every hostage at grave risk." "We beg our decision-makers to give the hostages top priority. Get a bargain. Before it's too late, bring them home.
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