ReutersIsrael’s security cabinet approved plans to control Gaza City, and Israel strongly rejected criticism from world leaders.
Defense Minister Katz said that condemning Israel and the countries that threaten sanctions “will not undermine our determination.”
He added: “Our enemies will find us a powerful united fist that will attack them with great force.”
Israel’s decision to expand the war in Gaza has sparked condemnation from the United Nations and several countries, including Britain, France and Canada, and prompted Germany to stop military exports to Israel.
The Israeli Security Cabinet approved plan outlines five “principles” to end the war – disarming Hamas, returning to all hostages, non-military Gaza Strip, security control over the territory and establishing “a alternative civil affairs that are neither Hamas nor Hamas nor Palestine authorities.”
Israeli media reports said the plan initially focused on complete control of the city of Gaza, relocating its estimated one million residents to the south. The troops will also control refugee camps in central Gaza and areas considered hostage-holding.
Media said the second offense will be promoted in a few weeks with the promotion of humanitarian aid.
The escalation of the conflict has sparked fierce opposition within Israel, including military officials and families of hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas said the plan to occupy Gaza City “constitutes a new war crime” would “pay (Israel) costs”.
Volker Turk, the head of human rights at the UN, responded to Israel’s decision, warning that further escalation “will lead to greater enormous displacement, more killing, more unbearable pain, meaningless destruction and atrocities”.
British Prime Minister Sir Kyle Stamer called this move “mistake”. Saying “it will only bring more blood”.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Israel to “not go this path”, emphasizing that “it will only worsen the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.”
Türkiye’s foreign ministry urges the world community to prevent Israel’s plan, which aims to “force the removal of Palestinians from their own land.”
In China, a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP that “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an integral part of the Palestinian territory.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that he was disappointed with Berlin’s decision to suspend arms exports to Israel, calling it “helpful Hamas terrorism.”
In Israel itself, the families of the remaining hostages in Gaza warn that the 20 lives believed to have survived will be in danger.
The Hostage Family Forum headquarters said the decision “has caused a huge disaster to the hostages and our soldiers.”
However, the United States is not that important. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said whether to completely occupy the Gaza Strip is almost Israeli.
The IDF currently controls about three-quarters of Gaza, with almost all of its 2.1 million citizens located in areas beyond the control of the military.
The United Nations estimates that about 87% of Gaza are in militarized areas or evacuation orders.
According to the United Nations, there are some areas in the central Gaza and along the Mediterranean coast that Israel does not occupy.
These include refugee camps, where most of Gaza’s population now lives after Israeli military operations destroyed their houses.
The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced by war, many of which have been many times.
The war has caused a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, and most experts without support say it is a time of famine.
The territory has also suffered massive deprivation due to the strict restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed – what it says is intended to weaken Hamas.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said July was the worst month for acute malnutrition cases in Gaza, affecting nearly 12,000 people under the age of five.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 people back to Gaza as hostages. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel launched a large-scale military offensive that killed at least 61,158 Palestinians.
