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Israel’s security cabinet has approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for the IDF to take control of Gaza City, aiming to defeat Hamas.
A file photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AP)
Israel’s security cabinet has approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal for the occupation of Gaza City, CNN quoted the Prime Minister’s Office as saying on Friday.
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will prepare for the takeover of Gaza City while ensuring the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” the office said, according to the report.
“An overwhelming majority of cabinet ministers believed that the alternative plan presented would neither achieve Hamas’s defeat nor bring back the hostages,” it quoted the office as saying.
More details of the plan were yet to be revealed.
On Thursday, Netanyahu had said that Israel does not want to annexe or occupy Gaza.
He has said his country’s sole aim was to destroy Hamas and hand over the strip to a transitory government.
During an interaction with journalists, the Prime Minister also said that Israel wants to take control of Gaza’s security after ending the war as soon as possible, adding that over two million tonnes of food were sent to Gaza, but the supplies were “interdicted”.
“Our plan is not to occupy or annexe Gaza. Our goal is to destroy Hamas and get our hostages back, and then hand over Gaza to a transitory government,” Netanyahu said.
“We will never hand it (Gaza) over to the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. We will provide overall security. There will be a security perimeter provided by us,” he said.
“We want to end the war very soon. It will be over speedily. If Hamas concedes and lays down its arms and frees hostages, it will be over tomorrow. Even Palestinians in Gaza are fighting Hamas,” the Israeli Prime Minister had said.
However, later, Netanyahu said that Israel intends to take control of the entire Gaza Strip to remove Hamas and ensure the country’s security, before handing it over to an unspecified Arab governing force, Fox News reported.
Ahead of a key cabinet meeting on the next stage of the Gaza war, Netanyahu stressed that Israel does not plan to retain civilian governance over the territory.
“We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza, and to pass it civilian governance,” Netanyahu said as per Fox News.
“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter, but we don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body,” Netanyahu added.
The Israeli Prime Minister said a “detailed plan” would be drawn up for a post-Hamas government in Gaza, with no role for the Palestinian Authority, according to the report.
“We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly, without threatening us, and giving the Gazans a good life,” he said.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s comments came amid increasing international criticism of his government over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as an estimated 60,000 people were killed in the Israeli military offensive in the last 22 months.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people. Hamas also took 251 people as hostages.
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Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
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