TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand military operations in the Gaza Strip, including a push into Gaza City, has triggered warnings from senior military officials, opposition from hostage families, and concerns from foreign governments about further civilian casualties and deepening Israel’s isolation.
Ahead of a security cabinet meeting in which proposals to take over Gaza City were approved by what officials described as an “absolute majority,” Mr Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel intended to remove Hamas from power and transfer civilian governance “to Arab forces.”
He insisted Israel did not want to keep the territory.
“We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces,” he said, without specifying which countries might take part in such an arrangement.
The Israeli military says it already controls around 75 percent of Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu’s plan would expand the offensive into the central camps, home to about one million Palestinians and believed to be where the remaining 20 hostages are held.
Military officials have warned that the operation could last months, force mass displacement, and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israel’s chief of staff, reportedly told the prime minister that full occupation was “tantamount to walking into a trap,” cautioning that the offensive could endanger both the hostages and exhausted soldiers.
According to the Maariv newspaper, prevailing assessments suggest most or all of the hostages could die during an expanded assault, either at the hands of their captors or through accidental Israeli fire.
Families of the hostages have echoed those fears, insisting that negotiations with Hamas remain the only viable path to securing their release.
Polls indicate that a majority of Israelis support such a deal to end the nearly two-year war, which began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
The proposal has also divided Israel’s international partners.
Britain’s ambassador to Israel, Simon Walter, called a full occupation a “huge mistake,” while US envoy Mike Huckabee told CBS News it was up to Israel to decide its course of action.
Mr Netanyahu has ruled out allowing the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war, but has yet to present a clear post-war vision.
Critics accuse him of prolonging the conflict to maintain his fragile coalition, which depends on the backing of ultranationalist ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Both have advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the resettlement of the territory with Jews — actions that could constitute forced displacement, a war crime.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
