Will Israel annex Gaza Strip? Know Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategic move that may change Middle East politics
Israel’s political-security cabinet approved a plan early on Friday to take control of Gaza City. The plan involved evacuating Palestinian civilians from Gaza City and launching a ground offensive there. Netanyahu said that he would give Gaza strip to Arab forces after annexation.
el’s political-security cabinet approved a plan take control of Gaza City
Israel’s political-security cabinet approved a plan early on Friday to take control of Gaza City, a move to strengthen military operations even as Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu is facing sharp criticism on his home turf and globally over the disastrous, almost two-year-old war, reported Reuters news agency. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also influenced by the far-right section in his coalition that has been urging him for a complete takeover of Gaza as he vowed to eradicate Hamas militants, though the military has warned this could put the lives of remaining hostages in danger.
Why Netanyahu took this decision?
The Israeli PM took the step after attempts for a ceasefire failed multiple times and after a recent uproar over images of starving Palestinian children underlining a deepening humanitarian disaster in the shattered enclave. “The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” Reuters quoted Netanyahu’s office’s statement, referring to the Israeli Defence Forces.
On the food crisis in Gaza, Netanyahu said over two million tonnes of food were sent to Israel, but the supplies were “interdicted”. “Our plan is not to occupy or annex Gaza. Our goal is to destroy Hamas and get our hostages back, and then handover Gaza to a transitory government,” Netanyahu said.
What is Netanyahu’s strategic move?
Reuters also informed that even when Netanyahu confirmed on Thursday Israel’s intention to control the entire Gaza Strip militarily, the approved plan on Friday emphasised specifically on sprawling Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, located in its north. Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing an Israeli official, said on X the plan involved evacuating Palestinian civilians from Gaza City and launching a ground offensive there.
Netanyahu told Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer in an interview on Thursday, that “We intend to” occupy the whole Gaza strip. According to Reuters, Israel has already occupied 75% of the coastal strip, as its forces claim. But he also clarified that Israel intended to hand over the territory to Arab forces for governance. He did not elaborate on the governance arrangements, or which Arab countries could be involved. “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body,” he said.
The decision is a part of a five-point plan to “disarm” Hamas and end the war in the enclave. These points are: disarming of Hamas, return of all the hostages, the demilitarisation of Gaza, Israeli security control in Gaza and establishment of a civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
(With inputs from agency)
