Israeli Security Cabinet Approved Plan to Occupy Gaza City
Israel announced on Friday an occupation of Gaza City amid its 22-month war with Hamas and despite warnings of further escalation. "The Security Cabinet has approved the Prime Minister's proposal for the defeat of Hamas," the Israeli prime minister's office said in the statement. "The IDF will prepare for the takeover of Gaza City while ensuring the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones."
Following a majority vote, the prime minister's office said the security cabinet also adopted five principles for ending the war with Hamas, which included "Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip", the Associated Press reported.
During a Thursday interview with Fox News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that Israel "intends to" take control of all of Gaza, but "we don't want to keep it or govern it."
"We don't want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. That's not possible with Hamas," he added.
The prime minister also shared that he has not discussed his country's occupation of Gaza with President Donald Trump.
"He understands that it's Israel who is going to do the fighting. It's not American soldiers," Netanyahu noted when asked if Trump had approved of the decision.
"Well, he just says, 'I know Israel is going to do what it's going to do,' and we haven't gotten into that kind of discussion," Netanyahu said.
Hamas, however, responded to Netanyahu's comments on Fox by stating that Israel's occupation of Gaza comes in withdrawal of their cease-fire deal.
"Netanyahu's statements represent a blatant reversal of the negotiation process and clearly expose the real motives behind his withdrawal from the latest round of talks, despite us nearing a final agreement," Hamas said in a statement.
"Netanyahu's plans to escalate the aggression confirm, without any doubt, that he is seeking to dispose of his captives and sacrifice them in service of his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda," Hamas continued.
According to Israeli media reports on the closed-door Security Cabinet meeting. Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, also cautioned against occupying Gaza because of the potential dangers to the hostages and placing additional pressure on the military after nearly 2 years of war.
According to ABC News, Netanyahu was also previously met with concern from the Hostage Families Forum to bring the remaining hostages home and to refrain from escalating its focus on Hamas.
"We are appealing to the cabinet -- the expansion of the fighting is a danger of death and immediate disappearance for our loved ones -- look us in the eye when you choose to sacrifice them," the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement.
At the present time, about 120 hostages remain in Gaza.
WATCH: Israel's Security Cabinet Approves Phased Plan to Occupy Gaza, Free Hostages, Defeat Hamas
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Amir Levy/Stringer
Originally published August 08, 2025.
