TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel approved plans Monday to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, a move that, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations there and likely draw fierce international opposition.
The new plan, which was approved in an early morning vote by Israeli Cabinet ministers, also calls for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move to Gaza’s south. That would likely amount to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Details of the plan were not formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation were not clear. Its approval came hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The plan may be another measure by Israel to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions in ceasefire negotiations.
A third person, a defense official, said the new plan would not begin until after U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up his expected visit to the Middle East this month, allowing for the possibility that Israel might agree to a ceasefire in the meantime. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing military plans.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after a decades-long occupation and then imposed a blockade on the territory along with Egypt. Capturing and potentially occupying the territory again for an indefinite period would not only further dash hopes for Palestinian statehood, it would embed Israel inside a population that is deeply hostile to it and raise questions about how Israel plans to govern the territory, especially at a time when it is considering how to implement Trump's vision to take over Gaza.
Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swaths of territory and now controls roughly 50% of Gaza. Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into the territory, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to the be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza, although about 35 are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has displaced more than 90% of Gaza’s population and, Palestinian health officials say, killed more than 52,000 people there, many of them women and children. The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said Monday that the bodies of 32 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. An additional 10 people were killed in strikes on Monday afternoon, according to local hospitals. The Israeli military offered no immediate comment on the strikes.
Israel is trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday cabinet ministers had decided on a “powerful operation in Gaza," including “a movement of the population to protect it.”
The plan also imposes Israeli control over aid distribution. Israel accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its own use or to distribute to strengthen its rule in Gaza, though Israel has not provided evidence. A spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian office, Jens Laerke, denied there was significant diversion of aid, saying the U.N. employs “a solid system to monitor and prevent” such theft.
The officials said Israel was in touch with several countries about Trump's plan to take over Gaza and relocate its population, under what Israel has termed "voluntary emigration." That proposal has drawn widespread condemnation, including from Israel's allies in Europe, and rights groups have warned it could be a war crime under international law.
For weeks, Israel has been trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas to get the group to agree to its terms in ceasefire negotiations. But the measures do not appear to have moved Hamas away from its negotiating positions.
The previous ceasefire was meant to lead the sides to negotiate an end to the war, but that has remained elusive. Israel says it will not agree to end the war until Hamas' governing and military capabilities are dismantled. Hamas, meanwhile, has sought an agreement that winds down the war without agreeing to disarm.
Israel's expansion announcement angered families of hostages who fear that any extension of the conflict endangers their loved ones. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which supports families, urged Israel's decision-makers to prioritize the hostages and secure a deal quickly.
At a Knesset committee meeting Monday, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage, called on soldiers “not to report for reserve duty for moral and ethical reasons."
Some reservists have indicated they will refuse to serve in a war they increasingly view as politically motivated.
Israel wants to prevent Hamas from handling aid
The defense official said the plan would “separate” Hamas from the aid by using private firms and by using specified areas secured by the Israeli military. The official added that Palestinians would be screened to prevent Hamas from accessing the aid.
According to a memo circulated among aid groups and seen by The Associated Press, Israel told the United Nations that it will use private security companies to control aid distribution in Gaza. The U.N., in a statement Sunday, said it would not participate in the plan as presented, saying it violates its core principles.
The memo summarized a meeting between the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, called COGAT, and the U.N. It was written by a group briefed on the meeting and sent Sunday to aid organizations.
According to the memo, under COGAT’s plan, all aid will enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, on approximately 60 trucks daily, and be distributed directly to people. Some 500 trucks entered Gaza every day before the war.
The memo said that facial-recognition technology will be used to identify Palestinians at logistics hubs and text message alerts will notify people in the area that they can collect aid.
COGAT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The UN accuses Israel of wanting to control aid as a ‘pressure tactic’
After Israel said it was going to assert more control over aid distribution in Gaza, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs sent an email to aid groups, urging them to reject any “draconian restrictions on humanitarian work."
The email, which OCHA sent Monday to aid groups and was shared with the AP, further stated that there are mechanisms in place to ensure aid is not diverted.
Earlier, OCHA said in a statement that the plan would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies. It said the plan “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic — as part of a military strategy.”
Aid groups have said they are opposed to using any armed or uniformed personnel to distribute aid that could potentially intimidate Palestinians or put them at risk.
Hamas decried Israel’s efforts to control distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza as a violation of international law.
In a statement Monday, the militant group said the effort is “an extension of the starvation policy” adopted by the Israeli government in Gaza.
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Mednick reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, and Josef Federman contributed to this report.
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