Israeli PM pushes ahead with Gaza takeover plan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing to seize full control of Gaza City while allowing negotiations for a truce with Hamas amid protests from more countries against his government's approval of plans for settlement construction in the West Bank that violate UN resolutions.
Netanyahu visited the Gaza Division of the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, to "approve" the planned new military operation, announcing on Thursday a "decisive stage" in seizing control of Gaza City, despite an announcement by Palestinian militant group Hamas earlier in the week that it has accepted a proposal, via Egypt and Qatari mediators, for a 60-day truce in Gaza.
"I came here to approve the IDF plans for taking control of Gaza City and defeating Hamas. In parallel, I instructed to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and the end of the war, on conditions that are acceptable for Israel," said Netanyahu.
"Those two things, the defeat of Hamas and the release of all our hostages, go hand in hand," said Netanyahu.
Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, said Netanyahu seems "does not want the war to end".
"Ending the war means for him controlling Gaza (and) continuing to annex lands in the West Bank," she added.
Israel Katz, Israel's defense minister, in a post on social media platform X on Friday, warned of further destruction like Rafah and Beit Hanoun if Israeli wishes were not met.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Thursday slamming the Israeli authorities for their "persistence in their crimes against the Palestinian people and their occupied land as well as their ongoing attempts to displace the people and prevent the establishment of their independent state".
Over 20 foreign ministers, including those from Australia, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, also released a joint statement rejecting the Israeli Higher Planning Committee's approval plans for settlement construction in the "E1" area, east of Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
A joint investigation by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call revealed that figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate that five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians.
As of May, 19 months into the fighting, Israeli intelligence officials listed 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or "probably dead", The Guardian reported.
Apart from the report, a string of frequent condemnations across the world in recent days and appeals against lingering starvation and famine have done little to deter Israel from dropping its controversial takeover plans.
Famine declared
Meanwhile, the United Nations officially declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming "systematic obstruction of aid" by Israel, hours after Katz threatened to destroy the territory's largest city.
Israel angrily denied there was a famine, with the foreign ministry saying the report was "based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests".
The famine was declared by experts at the Rome-based IPC, who said it affected 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.
The IPC projected that the famine would expand to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September, covering around two-thirds of Gaza.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by Israel".
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said it was "a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare" and said it "may also amount to the war crime of willful killing".
Agencies contributed to this story.
