The Israeli armed forces must "completely defeat" Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who chaired a meeting of his government's security council on Tuesday for the next phase of the war that is about to close 23 months, which according to Israeli media is about to begin immediately.
"It is necessary to completely defeat the enemy in Gaza, to release all our hostages and to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. We are not abandoning any of these missions," Mr. Netanyahu stressed during a visit to his army base.
Yesterday afternoon, he chaired, according to his services, a meeting that lasted "almost three hours", during which "the chief of the general staff presented him with options for continuing operations in Gaza."
The UN Security Council held a meeting on Tuesday dedicated to the issue of Israeli hostages in the Palestinian enclave, at the initiative of Israel, which wants to put it at the "center" of the international agenda.
US President Donald Trump called a video of a dismembered Israeli hostage released by Hamas last week "horrific" but declined to say whether he was in favor of imposing an Israeli occupation of the entire Gaza Strip, a move that the prime minister of the US's main ally in the Middle East is reportedly pushing.
Video of the dismembered Israeli hostage:
The Israeli press, citing officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that a new escalation of operations in the besieged Palestinian coastal enclave was imminent. "Netanyahu wants the Israeli army to seize the entire Gaza Strip," public radio Kan summarized.
Ministers in his government "confirmed that he has decided to expand the fighting to areas where hostages may be being held," the same outlet added.
According to the Maariv newspaper, "this dramatic decision" means that the army will "begin fighting in zones" where it has avoided engaging in recent months, in areas where hostages may be held, in camps for displaced persons, in areas where there are large concentrations of civilians.
Media outlets reported possible opposition from the Chief of General Staff, Major General Eyal Zamir.
The Israeli army "is ready to carry out any decision made" by the government, the prime minister's office countered after yesterday's meeting.
At war with Hamas following the Palestinian Islamist movement's military wing's unprecedented incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the Israeli government is facing growing international pressure to end the hostilities.
A large part of Israeli public opinion is increasingly concerned about the fate of the 49 hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip, 27 of whom have been declared dead by the army, while at the international level, voices are multiplying highlighting the suffering of the more than two million Palestinians in the enclave who are threatened with "generalized famine," as the UN warns.
"The ball is in the court of the occupation (Israel) and the Americans," Hamas leader Hussam Badran told AFP, expressing the movement's desire "to stop the war so that the famine can end."
"The mediators are still in contact with us, but so far there is (…) no development regarding the resumption of negotiations," he added after the failure of the previous round of indirect negotiations in July.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) assured yesterday that it is ready to guarantee that "food, medicine and news of their families" will be delivered to the hostages and recalled that it continues its "permanent dialogue with all parties" but "is not participating in the negotiations."
In the field, civil protection reported yesterday that 68 people had died in Israeli attacks, 56 of whom were waiting for food distributions, mainly in Khan Yunis (south) and Zikim (north), from where aid enters after approval by the Israeli authorities.
The Israeli military announced that there were "warning" shots fired in the southern Gaza Strip, adding that it was still verifying the information about Zikim.
Yesterday morning, COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for political affairs in Gaza, gave permission for goods to enter through traders in a "controlled and progressive" manner in order to "increase" aid while at the same time reducing "dependence" on the UN and international organizations.
"Approved goods include basic food products, baby food, fruits and vegetables, and hygiene items," which will be "strictly controlled," according to the same source.
Israel partially eased in late May a complete ban on the passage of humanitarian aid that it imposed in early March in the Gaza Strip, where the population is completely dependent on it. However, the quantities allowed into the enclave, via land routes or airdrops, are completely insufficient to meet the enormous needs, the United Nations stresses.
UN experts also called yesterday for the immediate dissolution of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a non-profit organization supported by Israel and the US, which began distributing aid in May.
His action is a “particularly worrying example” of how “humanitarian aid can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical purposes,” which constitutes a “flagrant violation of international law,” the experts explained, noting the involvement of “Israeli intelligence services, American businessmen, and controversial non-governmental entities.”
Source: protothema.gr
