Israel has approved plans to take control of Gaza City, while distributing humanitarian aid to civilians outside combat zones, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday, amid international pushback.
The decision follows a security cabinet meeting in which a majority of ministers endorsed five principles for ending the war.
These include disarming the Hamas terrorist organization, securing the release of all remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza, maintaining Israel’s security control over the territory, and establishing an alternative civil administration unaffiliated with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
In an interview with Fox News on Aug. 7, Netanyahu said the plans align with Israel’s long-standing objectives in Gaza, ensuring the enclave poses no threat to the country’s security or existence.
Those goals have been central since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed, and about 250 people kidnapped.
The assault triggered a prolonged war.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which operates under the control of Hamas, more than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. The number does not distinguish between combatants and civilians and includes some deaths from natural causes. The Epoch Times cannot verify the casualty numbers.
International Reactions
Countries remain divided over how to end the conflict. Western allies such as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia are pressing for a two-state solution—a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Israel and the United States reject recognizing Palestinian statehood under current conditions, arguing it would endanger Israel’s security.
The UK, Australia, and Turkey on Friday condemned Israel’s plan to expand military operations in Gaza.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it would “only bring more bloodshed” and wouldn’t help secure the release of hostages, while Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the move would worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Israel’s plan aims to make Gaza uninhabitable and forcibly displace Palestinians from their land.
The leaders back a two-state solution for the region, which will be a key focus of the 80th U.N. General Assembly in September, where France, the UK, and Canada said they plan to formalize their recognition of a Palestinian territory.
U.N. officials urged Israel to stop its planned full military takeover of the Gaza Strip. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk cited a ruling by the International Court of Justice and said, “Israel must end its occupation and achieve a two-State solution giving Palestinians the right to self-determination,” according to a U.N. press statement on Aug. 8.
Netanyahu dismissed the court’s findings as “fundamentally wrong” and one-sided, while the United States said the court should avoid any ruling that might hinder negotiations toward a two-state solution based on the “land-for-peace” principle.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott, when asked on Thursday to respond to Netanyahu’s remarks, reiterated U.S. policy priorities: delivering aid to Gaza without it being looted by Hamas, securing the release of hostages, and ensuring Hamas does not continue to exist.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Aug. 8 that its exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza will be suspended.
Merz affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself and the need to disarm Hamas, but he said that measures approved by the Israeli Security Cabinet “are making it increasingly unclear how these goals will be achieved.”
He also called on Israel to avoid steps toward annexing the West Bank.
Internal Tensions
Internal divisions deepened in Israel after the security cabinet approved sending forces into Gaza City, rejecting an alternative proposal that ministers said would not ensure Hamas’s defeat or the return of hostages.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the decision “a disaster” on Aug. 8, warning it would drag on for months, lead to the deaths of hostages and soldiers, cost Israeli taxpayers tens of billions, and end in political collapse.
“This is exactly what Hamas wanted: for Israel to be trapped in the field without a goal, without defining the picture of the day after, in a useless occupation that no one understands where it is leading,” Lapid said on X.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, representing relatives of those held in Gaza, also condemned the decision as “abandoning the hostages.”
The group said that expanding the fighting “only further endangers those still held in Gaza’s tunnels” and leaves them “at the mercy of Hamas.”
“Hamas continues to exploit military escalation as justification for its brutal treatment of our loved ones,” the group said. “The only way to bring the hostages home is through a comprehensive deal.”
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu said Israel is “doing everything“ in its power ”to salvage the hostages.”
He said that Israel can achieve the release of the remaining 50 hostages “with a combination of the right military tactics and international pressure.”
“Without military pressure, nothing works,” he said.
Some protesters blocked a highway in Tel Aviv on Thursday, according to a report by the Times of Israel, demanding a deal for the release of the hostages and demonstrating against an expansion of the war in Gaza.