Israel Security Cabinet Approves Plan To Seize Gaza City

Israel’s security cabinet has approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to take full control of Gaza City in a final push to topple Hamas and end 22 months of fighting. 

The country’s top decision-making forum on Friday approved the plan which would also see Israel Defense Forces provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians outside combat zones, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. 

Ministers voted to reaffirm Israel’s war goals of recovering all hostages from Hamas, disarm the Iran-backed Islamist faction and demilitarize the Gaza Strip, according to the statement that came after a 10-hour meeting of the security cabinet.

They also endorsed continued Israeli security control over the Palestinian territory and a post-war administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.

The Israel Defense Forces already controls some 75% of the Gaza, displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians whose towns and homes have been reduced to ruins. Gaza City, in the north, is among pockets of territory that have been subjected to air strikes but largely skirted by ground troops as the Israelis believe Hamas holds the remaining 50 hostages there, of whom 20 are believed to be still alive.