It comes after Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to take full control of Gaza City.
Early on Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office released a five-step plan detailing how it intends to end the fighting in Gaza by taking full control of the region.
“The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” the statement read, going on to detail Israel’s “principles for ending the war.”
“An absolute majority of Cabinet ministers believed that the alternative plan presented to the Cabinet would not achieve the defeat of Hamas or the return of the abductees,” the statement continued.
The “principles” are as follows:
- The disarmament of Hamas
- The return of all the hostages – both living and dead
- The demilitarisation of the Gaza territory
- Israeli security control of the Gaza territory
- The establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas or the Palestinian Authority
It comes after Mr Netanyahu said: “We intend to [take over] in order to ensure our security, remove Hamas [from] there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel.”
He added: “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.”
The meeting comes on a day when at least 29 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza, according to local hospitals.
This move is likely to trigger new international condemnation of Israel at a time when Gaza is plunging towards famine.
The UK said the decision is “wrong” and will worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
A Government spokesperson said: “The Israeli Government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately. This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed.
“Every day the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and hostages taken by Hamas are being held in appalling and inhuman conditions. What we need is a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and a negotiated solution. Hamas can play no part in the future of Gaza and must leave as well as disarm.
“Together with our allies, we are working on a long-term plan to secure peace in the region as part of a two-state solution, and ultimately achieve a brighter future for Palestinians and Israelis.
“But without both sides engaging in good faith in negotiations, that prospect is vanishing before our eyes. Our message is clear: a diplomatic solution is possible, but both parties must step away from the path of destruction.”
The decision has also been criticised by the families of hostages still trapped in Gaza.
On Thursday, almost two dozen relatives of hostages being held in Gaza set sail from southern Israel towards the maritime border with Gaza, where they broadcast messages from loudspeakers on boats to their relatives in Gaza.
The families denounced Mr Netanyahu’s plan to expand military operations.
Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza, said from the boat that Mr Netanyahu is prolonging the war to satisfy extremists in his government and to prevent it from collapsing.
“Netanyahu is working only for himself,” he said, pleading with the international community to put pressure on Mr Netanyahu to stop the war and save his son.
By Henry Moore
