Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to “prepare to take control of Gaza City,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced late Thursday, 7 August, ahead of a key cabinet meeting on the next stage of the Gaza war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a “detailed plan” will be drawn up for the administration that replaces Hamas, adding that Israel will not assume civilian governance over the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinian Authority will be excluded from the process.
He emphasized that Israel’s goal is to seize control of the entire Gaza Strip before transferring authority to an as-yet-unnamed Arab administration.
“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 said in an interview.
Israel does not intend to occupy or annex Gaza, but aims to dismantle Hamas, secure the release of hostages, and transfer control of Gaza to a transitional government, according to Netanyahu.
The move appears to mark the first stage in what officials suggest could be a months-long campaign to take over the entire Gaza Strip.
According to a statement by Netanyahu’s office, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) will prepare to take control of Gaza City while ensuring humanitarian aid reaches civilians outside combat zones.
The statement outlines several key principles for ending the war, including dismantling Hamas’s arsenal and securing the return of all hostages, whether alive or deceased. It also calls for the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the maintenance of Israeli security control over the territory. Finally, it envisions the creation of an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli officials have not announced when the takeover will begin, though local media report it will not be immediate and that residents would be ordered to evacuate first.
Hamas has yet to issue a public response to the cabinet’s decision. Meanwhile, Egypt has warned the United States that Israel’s plan to seize Gaza could prompt Hamas to kill the Israeli hostages, stating that Hamas and allied groups have orders to “neutralize” captives if their positions are besieged and escape becomes impossible.
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