The Israeli security cabinet has approved plans to expand its assault in Gaza and militarily occupy the entire strip.
Israel has begun calling up tens of thousands of reservists.
The army chief says the decision is aimed at 'intensifying pressure' on Hamas.
That's despite growing calls from inside Israel for a deal that would bring Israeli captives home.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut joins us in the studio to discuss this, and Ori Goldberg is an Israeli Political commentator. He joins us from Tel Aviv to discuss the latest developments.
Israel has begun calling up tens of thousands of reservists.
The army chief says the decision is aimed at 'intensifying pressure' on Hamas.
That's despite growing calls from inside Israel for a deal that would bring Israeli captives home.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut joins us in the studio to discuss this, and Ori Goldberg is an Israeli Political commentator. He joins us from Tel Aviv to discuss the latest developments.
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00:00The Israeli Security Cabinet has approved plans to expand its assault in Gaza and militarily
00:05occupy the entirety of the Gaza Strip.
00:09Israel has begun calling up tens of thousands of reservists.
00:12The army chief says the decision is aimed at intensifying pressure on Hamas.
00:16That is, despite growing calls from inside Israel for a deal that would bring Israeli
00:20captives home.
00:22Let's speak to Hamdan Salahut, who's reported extensively on Israel's war on Gaza, both
00:26in Israel and from Amman in Jordan.
00:28At this point, what exactly do we know?
00:31Well, we know that this was a unanimous decision by the Israeli Security Cabinet last night
00:36to not only expand their operations within the Gaza Strip, but also to seize the entirety
00:43of the Gaza Strip.
00:44This is something that members of Netanyahu's right-wing government, the fringe voices, as
00:49we previously thought, this was their dream all along to take over the Gaza Strip.
00:53But you have to remember that many of them didn't even leave Netanyahu's government when
00:58the ceasefire came into place because they were promised a, quote, absolute takeover
01:03of Gaza.
01:04So the Israelis are kind of redefining what their war goals here, because clearly after
01:08more than a year and a half of fighting, they haven't been able to contain Hamas.
01:12They haven't been able to defeat them.
01:14They haven't been able to ensure their own security.
01:16But more importantly to the Israeli public, they haven't been able to bring about the release
01:20of the Israeli captives.
01:21So with this plan, the new army chief of staff says that this is going to be the way to do
01:25that.
01:26But of course, there are going to be risks.
01:28And within Israel already, this is not popular, saying that the Israeli government is going
01:32after land grabs, prioritizing that and these right-wing sort of ideals over the lives of
01:39the captives still held in Gaza.
01:40Yeah, there has been a shift, hasn't there?
01:42Because in the beginning, it was all about getting the captives back officially.
01:46And now, in the last few weeks, we've heard one of the far-right ministers, Bezalel Smotrich,
01:54say actually his priority is the land in Gaza.
01:57And then a couple days ago, we heard the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, echo that
02:01sentiment.
02:02Well, if you've heard from these members of the far-right, the ultra-right within Israel,
02:08they've been saying since the start of the war, actually, that while they want the captives
02:11back, it's actually not their priority.
02:13Their priority is the destruction of Hamas.
02:16And while they do want to bring the captives back to Israel, it's not the main thing for
02:20them when it comes to their goals of the war.
02:23So they're redefining actually what's important to them.
02:26And now you have Benjamin Netanyahu with this plan to take over Gaza that the Israeli public
02:32is calling the, quote, Netanyahu Smotrich plan to abandon the hostages.
02:37This is how the family members are receiving this.
02:40So there have been comments from the right wing previously.
02:43But just this morning, you have Smotrich, who said that it's time that the word occupation
02:49is not something that people are afraid of.
02:51It's time people start welcoming this kind of rhetoric.
02:54So it just goes to show you this sort of shift where before this was something on the far
02:58right that essentially Netanyahu was dismissing, saying that this is not going to happen.
03:02But this is what's becoming the line of the coalition.
03:05And a reminder to viewers that under international law, the Gaza Strip is occupied by Israel,
03:11was occupied by Israel even before they had boots on the ground.
03:14I mean, we know that the international law is very clear on that.
03:18Do we have any indication right now on what then?
03:23If they do, it's an if at this point.
03:25But if they do reoccupy the entirety of this strip, what's the what then to just keep it?
03:31Well, it's a little bit unclear because this is a plan that's not going to come to fruition
03:35apparently for a few weeks.
03:37One Israeli source who leaked this entire plan says that they're kind of waiting for U.S.
03:43President Donald Trump to visit the region so they can get that extra support from him.
03:47You have the communications minister, Shlomo Qadri, saying that along with the approval
03:51of these plans now needs to come also the instillment of the voluntary migration plan
03:58of Palestinians, saying they need to kick all the Palestinians out so that Israel can have
04:02this land.
04:03So there's that.
04:04But you also have fighting that's going to intensify as part of this plan.
04:09But the Israeli army chief of staff said that when he was sworn in, when he took over for
04:14his predecessor, saying that 2025 was definitely going to be a year of fighting.
04:19And according to this plan that was unanimously approved, it's going to start in the north.
04:22They're going to try to push as many Palestinians as they can to the south before they ultimately
04:26go to the central part of the Strip and then the south.
04:30But what is their plan for the Palestinians?
04:32It's still unclear.
04:32Which is absolutely the most important point here, because we talked about the land, but
04:36there are 2.3 to 2.4 million people living inside the Gaza Strip.
04:41And you reminded us that the far right of this government, which now appears to be the line
04:45of the entire government, says they should then be somehow removed or, as they say, voluntarily
04:50leave the Strip.
04:52Hamdas al-Hood, thank you very much.
04:53Ori Goldberg is an Israeli political commentator, and he says a prolonged war in Gaza will not
05:01grant Israel security.
05:04Netanyahu's government has committed, so has Netanyahu.
05:07He's all in, at least for now.
05:09But he has an opposition.
05:11That opposition is on the streets.
05:13Will that opposition be translated into a mass refusal to report for service?
05:18I'm not sure.
05:18I don't know if that'll be the case.
05:21But Israelis are beginning to experiment with saying no, not to Netanyahu.
05:25Because remember, Israelis support Netanyahu's policy.
05:28They're not saying no to Netanyahu.
05:30They're saying no to that side of themselves that is used to bowing their heads before the
05:34instructions of the state, doing what is necessary, what is decreed as necessary by the government.
05:40More and more Israelis are starting to entertain the possibility.
05:44None of this has to do with the Palestinians, but it does have to do with the fact that a
05:49prolonged and expanded war in Gaza is seen as an effort that is not related to security.
05:55Security is the utmost foundational principle of Israel.
06:00It is above and beyond politics.
06:01This war is now seen as political, especially when its goal is being declared as the occupation
06:07of Gaza.
06:07That is very much settler parlance.
06:09And there are a lot of Israelis who are getting very angry when they hear this.